Though his time on AMC’s excellent The Walking Dead was plagued by rumors of strained relationships with network heads and excessive budget costs, it doesn’t look like Frank Darabont is done with TV yet. This December, he’ll unveil a gritty new event series for TNT, titled Mob City.
The series, set in crime-ridden Los Angeles circa 1947, will follow ex-marine Joe McTeague (Jon Bernthal) who joins the city’s highly-corrupt police force and embarks on a dangerous mission to clean up LA’s mean streets, starting with one of its most notorious gangsters, Mickey Cohen (Jeremy Luke).
Check out two dark, pulpy TV spots and a poster for the show below:
Filled with period-accurate accents, nasty threats and some truly stylish hats, the TV spots give audiences a taste of what they can expect to see when the series lands later this year. The clips also highlight the series’ TV-MA rating and its stacked cast, including Bernthal, Luke, Jeffrey DeMunn, Alexa Davalos (who anchors that evocative poster), Neal McDonough, Milo Ventimiglia, Ron Rifkin, Pihla Viital, Jeremy Strong and Simon Pegg.
If Mob City looks familiar, it’s probably because you have seen McTeague’s story once before – in this past January’s Gangster Squad. Hopefully, Mob City will skew a little closer to reality than that film, which was stuffed with elaborate shoot-outs and ludicrous dialogue. Darabont’s involvement certainly indicates that the series could pursue the same relentlessly dark, moody feel of The Walking Dead, which would be a refreshing shift from Gangster Squad‘s cartoonish action.
The series also looks like TNT’s best shot yet at reaching the big leagues, after other cable channels like FX and AMC have risen to the awards circuit in past years with shows like Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad.
I’m personally very excited to see Mob City. It looks like a perfectly pulpy period piece right now, and with all the talent behind it, it’s highly possible that the series could end up being much more than that. Are you excited for Mob City, or does it look like a flop in the making? Let me know in the comments!
Mob City premieres December 4th on TNT.
