James Gandolfini HBO Pilot Will Not Air
Speaking at Thursday's Television Critics Association's fall TV previews, HBO's President of Programming Michael Lombardo said that CRIMINAL JUSTICE, a pilot starring late actor James Gandolfini, will not air.
"I can't imagine us airing the pilot with James in it," Lombardo said. "Jim's passing took the wind out of sails quite a bit at HBO, so it's taken some time to even have conversations with Steve [Zaillian]. It's hard to think about replacing him." He added, "the conversation would be about reshooting the portion that Jim had already performed in and recasting."
The drama was to be based on the BBC BAFTA-award winning series from Peter Moffat and was to be adapted for HBO by Steven Zaillian and Richard Price. The original series, set in New York City, followed a person through the justice system as they went on trial for murder. Gandolfini was to portray Jack Stone, described as "a downtrodden jailhouse attorney who frequents police stations for clients. There, he finds a client: Naz, an American-born Pakistani."
The 51-year-old Sopranos star died in Italy last month while attending the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily. The actor won three Emmy Awards for his iconic role of 'Tony Soprano' in the HBO series.
Gandolfini's big screen credits include the upcoming Animal Rescue, as well as The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Zero Dark Thirty, In the Loop, All the King's Men, The Mexican, Fallen, 12 Angry Men, Get Shortly, and more.
He appeared on Broadway in God of Carnage for which he was Tony-nominated in 2009, and then reprised the role in 2011 in LA. He also appeared in On the Waterfront and made his Broadway debut with Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin in A Streetcar Named Desire.Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
