A resurrection for the celebrated Jack Nicholson film noir.
You’ve seen Chinatown, right?
It’s one of the all-time great film noirs, featuring a classic Jack Nicholson performance as Jake Gittes; a private eye who runs afoul of a major criminal conspiracy.
“Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown.”
Vintage stuff indeed.
Clip via Paramount Movies
There was a sequel – 1990’s The Two Jakes – that Nicholson directed, only it paled by comparison and that was pretty much it for Jake Gittes.
Until now.
Deadline has the scoop that David Fincher will team up with original Chinatown scribe Robert Towne to pen a pilot script for an official prequel series to be housed on Netflix.
Fincher has had recent dealings with the streaming platform, including heading up the hugely successful Mindhunter and helming Mank; his forthcoming biopic of Citizen Kane writer Herman J. Mankiewicz.
He will also serve as executive producer on the Chinatown project, with Deadline noting that there is “hope” that he will direct the pilot episode.
The story will see a young Jake Gittes working in a corrupt town and getting into various misadventures, which certainly sounds like an “if it ain’t broke…” approach.
No further word on production details but there’s some big shoes to fill in the lead role, anyway…
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