Netflix Teams Robert Towne And David Fincher for ‘Chinatown’ Prequel Series Pilot Script

[THE 101]

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has closed deals with Robert Towne and David Fincher to work up a pilot script for a prequel to the 1974 classic film Chinatown, sources tell Deadline. Towne won an Oscar for scripting a drama that mixed fact and fiction to tell the story of a private eye hired to expose an adulterer who instead uncovers far more unsavory things.


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Fincher will be executive producer along with Towne and Josh Donen. The idea behind the prequel series would be to focus on a young Jake Gittes (played in the film by Jack Nicholson) as he plies his business in a town where the wealthy and corruption involves areas like land, oil and gangs. The hope is that Fincher might direct the pilot, but that is not part of the deal which at this point covers a pilot script. Roman Polanski directed the original film and the late Robert Evans produced it.

incher was one of the first superstar directors to jump into TV production, when he made House of Cards at Netflix. He currently has the hit Mindhunter there, which just finished its second season, and will next direct at Netflix Mank, a drama feature that chronicles the battles between screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles over Citizen Kane, for which both shared the Oscar for screenwriting. Gary Oldman is playing Mank, and the rest of the cast includes Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tuppence Middleton, Arliss Howard, Charles Dance, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jamie McShane, Joseph Cross, Sam Troughton, Toby Leonard Moore, Tom Burke and Tom Pelphrey. The Mank script was written by Howard “Jack” Fincher, who is the late father of the filmmaker. The picture is being shot in black and white.

Robert Towne David Fincher Chinatown Prequel Pilot Script Netflix – Deadline

God damn

 

[MartyMcFly]

Just canceled Netflix too

but this is a dope idea in theory. Question is, how do you sell the prequel series to a movie from 40 years ago the current gen probably has little love for or little memory of. It’s the blade runner 2049/doctor sleep thing all over again.

All that said, I love this idea and can’t wait to see what they do with it. If it’s Fincher, I’m down

 

[THE 101]

Just canceled Netflix too

but this is a dope idea in theory. Question is, how do you sell the prequel series to a movie from 40 years ago the current gen probably has little love for or little memory of. It’s the blade runner 2049/doctor sleep thing all over again.

All that said, I love this idea and can’t wait to see what they do with it. If it’s Fincher, I’m down

I think the fact it's a prequel makes it easier.

There will certainly be nods to the original and characters that were in the original film but it won't have to rely on the audience knowing of events that happened in the film. It can be a new story while also building to the event that happened to Jake in Chinatown that is referred to in the original film.

Big question is who the hell do they cast to fill Jack's shoes?

 

[MartyMcFly]

I think the fact it's a prequel makes it easier.

There will certainly be nods to the original and characters that were in the original film but it won't have to rely on the audience knowing of events that happened in the film. It can be a new story while also building to the event that happened to Jake in Chinatown that is referred to in the original film.

Big question is who the hell do they cast to fill Jack's shoes?

Nah I don’t mean as in it being easier or harder. I mean will those people give a shyt?

and I’m actually less worried about someone filling jacks shoes because of the same thing I just described: it’s so long ago it probably won’t really matter to anyone other than film geeks

 

[THE 101]

Nah I don’t mean as in it being easier or harder. I mean will those people give a shyt?

and I’m actually less worried about someone filling jacks shoes because of the same thing I just described: it’s so long ago it probably won’t really matter to anyone other than film geeks

I'm sure the average Netflix subscriber certainly won't give a shyt about the original film. But if the show looks good then they don't need to sell the fact that it's a prequel anyway. It's just more prestige content for them.

 

[PortCityProphet]

Just canceled Netflix too

but this is a dope idea in theory. Question is, how do you sell the prequel series to a movie from 40 years ago the current gen probably has little love for or little memory of. It’s the blade runner 2049/doctor sleep thing all over again.

All that said, I love this idea and can’t wait to see what they do with it. If it’s Fincher, I’m down

And i used to look up to you

 

[MartyMcFly]

And i used to look up to you

You still should lol. Just wasn't using it as much as I used to. Disney+, Hulu, Amazon, Shudder...I'll be back at Netflix when stranger things drops. Already spreading that money too much and something had to go

 

[MartyMcFly]

I'm sure the average Netflix subscriber certainly won't give a shyt about the original film. But if the show looks good then they don't need to sell the fact that it's a prequel anyway. It's just more prestige content for them.

Most definitely. Which is why I think they can get away with the recasting and whoever it is, needs to be a 180 from Jack

 

[PortCityProphet]

You still should lol. Just wasn't using it as much as I used to. Disney+, Hulu, Amazon, Shudder...I'll be back at Netflix when stranger things drops. Already spreading that money too much and something had to go

Man you better get one of these chumps round here to cough up their password. You drop too much knowledge roind these parts. You need allada services

 

[MartyMcFly]

Man you better get one of these chumps round here to cough up their password. You drop too much knowledge roind these parts. You need allada services

Oh I got other ways just not paying the Netflix dealer anymore

 

[MenacingMonk]

Robert Towne Offers Major Update on David Fincher’s Chinatown Prequel Series

It's nearly five years since we learned David Fincher and Robert Towne would partner on a Chinatown series concerning the early days of Jack Nicholson's Jake Gittes. (One made, naturally, for Netflix.) The time since (Mank, The Killer) pointed towards a director who'd been brought back to...

thefilmstage.com

Apparently all the episodes are written.