Miramax Television has put together a series based on Gangs of New York , the book by Herbert Asbury which inspired the homonymous film by Martin Scorsese .
The director will executive produce the series and direct the first two episodes. The project was designed for streaming platforms.
Brett Leonard ( The Lawnmower, Premonitions ) wrote the script. As it turns out, the series will not be a remake of the film, but will include completely new characters compared to those played by Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis and Cameron Diaz .
The project was developed internally at Miramax Television and, afterwards, the script was shown to Scorsese, who enjoyed it and decided to executive produce the series and direct it. Executive producers also include Leonard and Scorsese managers Rick Yorn and Chris Donnelly .
Previously, Scorsese and Miramax had already attempted to bring Gangs of New York to TV in 2013. The series was supposed to follow not only rival gangs in late 19th century New York, but also those of other cities, such as Chicago and New Orleans. , to tell the birth of organized crime in America.
The new project should instead return to focus on New York and the crime that dominated it before the rise of the mafia, thanks to the Prohibition of the 1920s. This latter historical period was told in the Boardwalk Empire series , also produced by Scorsese.