He may have announced his retirement – albeit a temporary one – from filmmaking, but Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh has not been resting on his laurels. Having delivered the critically acclaimed TV movie Behind The Candelabra, and the equally well-received TV series The Knick, The Girlfriend Experience and Red Oaks, Soderbergh has now turned his attentions to Netflix, where he will stream his latest producing project, Godless.
Godless is a limited series of just six episodes, and is written and directed by Scott Frank (The Wolverine, A Walk Among The Tombstones). Boasting Soderbergh and Casey Silver as executive producers, alongside Frank, the story is set against the backdrop of the U.S western frontier. It stars Jeff Daniels as outlaw Frank Griffin, who is relentlessly hunting his former partner-in-crime, Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell). Goode is hiding out at the ranch of Alice Fletcher (Michelle Dockery), and Griffin’s pursuit of Goode causes him to arrive at the strange New Mexico town of La Belle – the population of which is almost entirely female.
The mystery deepens as Griffin tries to get to grips with his new surroundings, and it’s in this intriguing town that the most interesting casting choices are apparent. Already cast is Scoot McNairy as the local sheriff, and he has now been joined by the legendary Oscar nominee Sam Waterston, playing Marshal John Cook – a law man hot on the trail of Frank Griffin. Kim Coates has also been cast as another new arrival in La Belle, Ed Logan. Rounding out the wider cast are Audrey Moore, Christiane Siedel, Randy Oglesby, Justin Welborn and Christopher Fitzgerald.
This streaming event is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated television projects currently in production benefitting, as it does, from creators and cast of such calibre and experience. Its Wild West setting almost pales in significance compared to the inter-personal dramas between strong characters, and the fascinating mystery behind the town of La Belle. We know that Steven Soderbergh has an eye of for great material – so let’s hope all that potential is realized when Godless premieres on Netflix sometime in 2017.