Showtime Orders New Drama BILLIONS, Starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis
Everyone knows we're in the middle of a new golden age of television, and it's not as easy as it used to be to get attention and acclaim for new dramas. The bar has been raised over the past few years with shows like The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men, and it's no longer a battle solely between premium networks like HBO and Showtime for supremacy. FX and AMC are major players now, and that's not even including the comparatively new additions of Netflix and Amazon to the fray. Networks are having to step up their game to compete with the best of the best, and that results in some awesome television shows for consumers.
Showtime just sent out a press release saying that they've picked up a new financial drama called Billions for a 12 episode run. The one-hour episodes will star Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers, Homeland), and it's being billed as "a complex and contemporary drama about power politics in the New York world of high finance." Rounders writers Brian Koppelman and David Levien will write and executive produce alongside Andrew Ross Sorkin (Too Big To Fail). Sounds like a hell of a team to me.
“The dynamic star pairing of Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis is matched by an equally exciting team in the writing of this show,” said [Showtime President David] Nevins. “Andrew Ross Sorkin, one of the preeminent financial journalists of our time, has joined forces with Brian Koppelman and David Levien, two of Hollywood’s most accomplished screenwriters, to tackle an incredibly timely and buzzy subject. With this caliber of writing and acting, I think the show’s authenticity and insider look will have great appeal to a discerning audience.”
Here's a much better description of the series:
BILLIONS is a fictional drama that takes an insider look at the world of high finance by tracking the approaching collision between two titanic figures – the hard charging, politically savvy U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Giamatti), and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king, Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Lewis). Maggie Siff, Malin Akerman, Toby Leonard Moore, David Costabile and Condola Rashad also star. The pilot was directed by acclaimed director Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Divergent), who also serves as an executive producer.
Billions is set for release sometime in 2016. Sound good to you? Here are two photos from the pilot: