Martin Scorsese to direct TV series on 'Gangs of New York'. Details here

A TV series on Herbert Asbury's 1927 non-fiction account of New York's 19th century rival underworld organisations 'The Gangs of New York' is in development, reported Deadline. Martin Scorsese, who directed an acclaimed historical drama adaptation in 2002, callled 'Gangs of New York', is attached as a director of the first two episodes. The project comes from Miramax Television. As per the Deadline report, the plot details are kept under wraps, but the series will likely explore characters that the film did not delve into.

'Shantaram' scribe Brett Leonard is scripting the project.

Scorsese was earlier attached to another TV adaptation of 'The Gangs of New York', which was going to explore not just the crime scene in Big Apple of that era, but also in other cities like Chicago and New Orleans.

He had said while announcing the project, "This time and era of America’s history and heritage is rich with characters and stories that we could not fully explore in a two-hour film. A television series allows us the time and creative freedom to bring this colorful world, and all the implications it had and still does on our society, to life.”

'Gangs of New York' starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis and Cameron Diaz in lead roles. Set in 1862, the film covers the long-running Catholic-Protestant feud that comes to a boil in the year, and an Irish immigrant gang protests against conscription. The film received highly positive reviews, with praise particularly going towards Day-Lewis' performances.

Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas, Stephen Graham, Eddie Marsan, and Brendan Gleeson also featured in the cast.

The film holds a score of 72 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes, a popular review aggregation site. The critical consensus reads, "Though flawed, the sprawling, messy Gangs of New York is redeemed by impressive production design and Day-Lewis's electrifying performance."

Meanwhile, Scorsese is currentl;y busy with the post-production of 'Killers of the Flower Moon', which is based on David Grann's 2017 non-fiction book 'Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI'. The film stars Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone and Brendan Fraser. It is expected to be released in 2023.