TV series based on films are few and far between, but every once in awhile one pops up that looks like a good idea. With the Coen Brothers gearing up for a Fargo TV series to air on FX, it was only a matter of time before they began announcing cast details. For Fargo, the first up is Coen mainstay and ex-Mr. Angelina Jolie: Billy Bob Thornton.
The Fargo limited series on FX will be a ten episode series telling a new crime story that takes place in the small town of Fargo, North Dakota. It has only a limited link with the original film, which starred Frances McDormand and William H. Macy. The series will try to bring back the ‘Minnesota nice’ (and presumably the same macabre humor) of the Coens’ film.
Billy Bob Thornton will be taking on that part of Lorne Malvo, which is being described as a similar role to that of Steve Buscemi in Fargo. There’s been no other word on plot details or casting parts. I suppose it’s too much to hope that Frances McDormand will return in the part of Fargo Police Chief Marge Gunderson, but we can always dream. We do know that the Coens are executive producers on the show alongside Noah Hawley (Bones), who also wrote the script. Based on that information, Fargo should be an enjoyable little series.
While Billy Bob Thornton seems more suited to Texas deserts than the frozen north, he continues to prove himself a versatile actor and director. He also has a knack for the peculiar brand of weirdness we associate with the Coen Brothers, as he showed in The Man Who Wasn’t There and Intolerable Cruelty.
There’s no word on when Fargo will premiere on FX, but with casting getting underway we can expect it sometime in 2014. Sound good?