Despite launching The Walking Dead on a path to enthusiastic acclaim and huge success, Frank Darabont left the show after the first year. Here’s hoping he personally has more success with what was once called Lost Angels and is now Mob City, a period cop drama that has just kicked out its first trailer.
Based on the critically acclaimed book L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City by John Buntin, Mob City opens in post-World War II Los Angeles, home to glamorous movie stars, powerful studio heads and returning war heroes. But it’s also a city caught between a powerful and corrupt police force and an even more dangerous criminal network determined to make L.A. its West Coast base.
Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker (Neal McDonough) has made it his mission to free the city of criminals like Ben “Bugsy” Siegel (Ed Burns) and Mickey Cohen (Jeremy Luke), the ruthless king of the Los Angeles underworld. Parker also won’t hesitate to go after anyone from his own police force who sells out honour and duty for the sake of a big pay-out.
To carry out his sweep of organized crime, Parker sets up a new mob task force within the LAPD. Headed by Det. Hal Morrison (Jeffrey DeMunn), the task force includes Det. Joe Teague (Jon Bernthal), an ex-Marine who holds his cards close to his chest.
In other words, Darabont and his team will be treading a similar path to Gangster Squad, though with room to develop the characters and hopefully with more substance under the style. It certainly looks appealing, and also boasts the likes of character stalwarts Robert Knepper and Gregory Itzin, alongside Alexa Davalos and, in a small role in the pilot, Simon Pegg.
US TV viewers will see it starting in December. We’re still waiting to see if/when it’ll make it across the pond.