Despite having “always been pitched as an anthology,” True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto said the show is perhaps not quite done with Season 1’s Cohle and Hart.
Speaking on a recent episode of Tim Green’s Nothing Left Unsaid podcast, the four-time Emmy-nominated showrunner said that Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson would be “open” to reprising their roles, though a script has not yet been written.
“I actually have another story for Cohle and Hart that, who knows, maybe we’ll do it one day,” he began, adding that he didn’t feel beholden to continuing the inaugural season’s storyline: “But no, there is pressure, but I don’t really feel or respond to pressure that way. I get pressure [from] myself and beyond that it doesn’t exist so much for me and pressure tends to more revolve around, am I discharging my duty correctly for me?”
The executive producer-writer also dodged a question about plot details, explaining, “If I said something on your show, there would be like five spec scripts going around Hollywood. No, I mean, it’s character-based again, that’s all, but it’s not something I’ve written or anything. It’s just, ‘Oh, I had that in my head,’ and we’ve talked about getting back together and doing it and I think the guys are open to it. It’s just a question of whether that would ever happen or not.”
First premiering on the cable network in 2014, the crime anthology series wowed both critics and audiences alike in its first outing, topping many a “best TV” list, being nominated for 12 Emmys and winning five. Across its four seasons, the cast has included Michelle Monaghan, Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch, Vince Vaughn, Mahershala Ali, Scoot McNairy and Ray Fisher.
Season 4, subtitled Night Country, which starred Jodie Foster (who won an Emmy for her role) and Kali Reis, was helmed by Issa López, marking the first time franchise creator Pizzolatto was not involved (he was still credited as an EP). Pizzolatto previously made headlines for publicly critiquing Season 4, sharing negative fan responses to the installment — a generally well-reviewed season that ranks as the most-watched in the anthology. López responded to the digs, saying he was “entitled” to the detracting opinions as the storyteller that originated the work: “That’s his prerogative. I wrote this with profound love for the work he made and love for the people that loved it. And it is a reinvention, and it is different,” she said in part. However, star Reis was significantly less pleased, writing, “That’s a damn shame…but hey I guess ‘if you don’t have anything good to share, shit on others’ is the new wave.” In a since-deleted Instagram post, the multi-hyphenate opened up a forum for discussion on the show, and staunchly denied the idea that he was “spreading hate” against the season.
With Season 5 already on the way, born out of López’s overall deal with HBO, viewers will be transported from Alaska to Jamaica Bay, an estuary on Long Island. “Issa has a lot to say, not unlike she did with Night Country. It’s a different milieu but just as powerful,” HBO’s Head of Drama Series and Film Francesca Orsi told Deadline recently.
Despite being a new story with new characters, López teased that there will be “some important connections” between the two installments. With a writers room already open, filming is set to commence soon and casting is already gearing up. The new season will launch in 2027.
Speaking to his previous perceived ire against Season 4, Pizzolatto said on the podcast: “I gotta be delicate. I was the one who walked away from my contract at the end of 2019, and I believe if I had given them a good script for another season of True Detective, I believe they would have gone for it. I, myself, was spiritually tired of walking in that much darkness and dealing with such dark materials, and then, I got full custody of my daughter back and that was a situation where I really needed to be a father.”
He continued, “I took myself out of that equation, and then, I think it’s totally right and appropriate for HBO to keep that brand going, because we built a brand, and I hope they do lots of them. And beyond that, it’s probably best for me to not comment on it just ’cause it’s not fair to the creator and it’s ultimately not fair to me either because I had had people writing me on social media and sort of demanding that I answer for Season 4 and that was somebody else’s.”
At the end of the day, he said he “wish[ed] ’em luck with” Season 5 and affirmed he “would return” depending on HBO leadership and his own work schedule.
The post ‘True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto Says Matthew McConaughey & Woody Harrelson Are “Open To” Reprising Cohle & Hart For “Another Story” appeared first on Deadline.
