Matthew Rhys Takes The Lead In HBO’s ‘Perry Mason’ Limited Series
HBO has found its ‘Perry Mason‘ for their upcoming limited series, as ‘The Americans’ star Matthew Rhys takes the title role.
Based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner, the new, reimagined series sees Rhys play the defence attorney/private investigator in 1932 Los Angeles. Whilst most of the country is recovering from the Great Depression, things in LA are booming, as the Olympics arrive and talking pictures start to take off. But when a child kidnapping goes very wrong, the case of the decade lands at Mason’s doorstep, he relentlessly pursues the truth revealing a fractured city and just maybe, a pathway to redemption for himself.
The series comes from Robert Downey Jr’s Team Downey, and has been floating around as an idea for a number of years. Downey was originally looking at reviving the character for a feature film, then HBO got involved and it morphed into a tv project. It initially had ‘True Detective’ creator Nic Pizzolatto attached as writer, but he then left the project, so this iteration comes from Rolin Jones (‘Life in Pieces’, ‘Boardwalk Empire’, ‘Weeds’) and Ron Fitzgerald (‘Weeds’, ‘Westworld’) who will write, exec produce and serve as showrunners.
Perry Mason first appeared on TV in 1957, and starred Raymond Burr as the LA-based defence attorney. Part detective show, part courtroom drama, the first half of the show saw Mason, along with his P.I. and secretary, investigate the crimes of which his client was accused, with the second half presenting the evidence in court.
Mason started as a series of novels from author Erle Stanley Gardner, which led to the popular TV series. There has also been a radio show, countless tv movies, and a short-lived TV reboot in the 70’s based on the character over the years.
As ‘Perry Mason‘ is a HBO series, that should mean it appears on Sky Atlantic when it is released. There is currently no premiere date, but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
