Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are bringing their Boston pride to Showtime.
The cabler has picked up a drama pilot “City on a Hill” from the Oscar winners, who will executive produce the project.
Based on an original idea by Affleck and Chuck MacLean (“Boston Strangler”), who wrote the script, “City on a Hill” is a fictional account of what was called the “Boston Miracle.” In the early ’90s, corruption and racism was the norm in Boston, until an African-American district attorney from Brooklyn arrives in the city, advocating change. He forms an unlikely alliance with a corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran who is invested in maintaining the status quo. The two take on a family of armored car robbers in a case that eventually upends the city’s criminal justice system.
The pilot will be directed by Gavin O’Connor (“The Accountant”), who will serve as executive producer along with James Mangold (“Logan”) and Jennifer Todd (“Memento”) of Pearl Street Films. Pearl Street developed the project with IMG.
“’City on a Hill’ is a gritty thriller about severe corruption and gangs, the type of series that takes you back and centers around the crime-riddled streets of Boston in the early 90s,” said Todd.
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“Chuck wrote a pressure-cooker of a script steeped in the tribal codes of a Shakespeare play — family, blood, betrayal, honor,” said O’Connor. “His take on the ties that bind is handled with a deep honesty and insight. I see the show as a brawling thriller — and an intimate family drama — played out on the rough streets of Boston.”
Damon and Affleck’s Pearl Street banner also produced the TV series “Incorporated” and “Project Greenlight,” which ran for four seasons on HBO.
