HBO is getting what will likely be another hit show on its hands. The network has picked up a script for a series titled “Open City.” The series comes from feature writer David Kajganich and executive producer/director Adam Shankman.
“Open City” is set in the vibrant, turbulent John Lindsay-era New York of the late 1960s and explores characters from disparate corners of Manhattan as they navigate the cultural revolution and political turmoil of the era. The drama will also examine the unlikely alliance between the Mafia and the city’s gay community in the opening of a West Village nightclub.
Lindsay was a two-term Republican mayor of New York (1966-73) and U.S. presidential candidate. He started his career as a Republican and switched to the Democratic Party in 1971. He’s credited with helping to spare the city from rioting following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The project will be written and executive produced by Kajganich. Shankman will direct. Ronnie Lorenzo, one of the original owners of the Stonewall Inn, will serve as a consulting producer. The Stonewall Inn is a famous New York City bar and the setting of 1969’s Stonewall riots, considered the birth of the gay rights movement and the fight for LGBT equality in the U.S.
There is no word on when the project will begin production or when HBO is looking to premiere the series.
