With the success of Looking and The Normal Heart, HBO is quickly becoming the go-to network for high profile, high quality gay content, and for their next gay project they’re looking back to the ’60s.
HBO has picked up the script for Open City, from out producer/director/choreographer Adam Shankman (Hairspray) and writer David Kajganich, and if The Hollywood Reporter‘s description of the project is anything to go by, we’re definitely in for something that we haven’t seen before:
Open City is set in the vibrant, turbulent 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.
Open City‘s creators will certainly have the benefit of someone who knows the terrain well. One of the original owners of New York City’s iconic Stonewall Inn, Ronnie Lorenzo, has signed on as a consulting producer.
Seems to us like we could be looking at an edgier Mad Men for the gays, and given HBO’s track record as of late, they will not be shy with the sex scenes. Since the show’s only in development, it could be quite some time before we hear of any more information, but we’ll be interested to see what talent gets attached to the project.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
More openly gay actors playing gay roles on HBO? We’re here for it.
Until then, we’ll just be reliving Looking season 1 and waiting for the next great gay show to come around.
Cam
And what a shock, NONE of these shows with a gay theme are appearing on Logo.
Does Logo even pretend to be a gay channel anymore?
This show sounds interesting, I’ll definitely tune in.
Stache99
@Cam: Well, apparently you’ve never heard of Rupaul or Drag Race 😉
Cam
@Stache99:
You mean the one gay show that they have? And the one that they are currently distancing themselves from?
Mykaels
My masters thesis haunts me to this day
NG22
Mad Men meets Sopranos meets Sex and the City meets Looking meets The Normal Heart? Hmmm…
Could be interesting. It’s HBO, so of course I’ll tune in. I want a high-profile cast, and I want many gay actors. I’m not sure if both of those things are possible. But I’m so tired of hearing straight actors on publicity tours sound like they took a personal risk and assisted the gay community by taking a role. So self-serving.