Sylvester Stallone has been an actor who has managed to land some iconic roles during his time in the entertainment business. Recently, he earned a lot of nods for her reprisal of Rocky Balboa in Creed, but instead of keeping on the Oscar track, he has decided to head to TV for his next gig. Reports this morning indicate that Stallone is teaming up with The Weinstein Company for Omerta, a new series based on the book of the same name by Mario Puzo. If you recognize Puzo, it’s because he was the bestselling author who wrote The Godfather after his first books did not prove to be commercially successful. Yes, go ahead and get excited now.
Sylvester Stallone is expected to take the lead in Omerta should the project get picked up by a network, and Deadline says the project is moving forward quickly. It helps that Stallone isn’t the only famous name attached. Antoine Fuqua is also signed on to direct, and the project is currently looking to round out the cast with a female lead. The script is being written by Adam Hoff and Justin Herber. Fuqua and Stallone will executive produce, as will Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein and David Glasser.
Sylvester Stallone’s character in Omerta is Raymonde Aprile, the last Don, which is a different kind of character for the actor, who frequently plays characters who deal with heavy action scenes. It should be a nice change-up for his first non-guesting TV stint. In addition, the character's nephew Astorre Viola will play a big role in the plot. In the book Don Raymonde Aprile is a widower, so I’m not sure who the female lead on Omerta will be, but we’ll let you know as soon as we know. Aprile does have children in the book, along with his nephew, and Astorre has a love interest.
Interestingly, this news comes just a few months after a TV series based on another of Sylvester Stallone’s iconic films, Rambo, was announced to be in the works. That project is expected to follow Rambo’s son J.R. but would also feature Rambo, leading to speculation that Stallone might reprise the role. But as recently as December, Stallone has said he is out on that gig completely and will not even executive produce, as had previously been surmised.
Obviously, this new project proves he’s not wholly anti-TV, but maybe simply didn’t see the Rambo project as a workable option. Honestly, that show has been attempting to get off of the ground for years. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, it will simply be at the top of the list of recent reboots that haven’t made it to TV.
Like Rambo, Omerta still needs a network. It hasn’t even been ordered to pilot yet, so even if the project does move forward, we won’t see Sylvester Stallone on our TV’s for a while. Still, we’re already more than a little enthused about the pilot. It certainly sounds better than Expendables 4, eh?
While we wait, you can see what TV has coming up with our summer TV premiere schedule.
