The Martin Scorsese hit mob flick is headed to the small screen, as AMC announced plans to develop the film into an ongoing television series. The adaptation will get the help of the film’s co-screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi and its producer Irwin Winkler. The 1990 film starred Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci – as well as Ray Liotta playing Henry Hill, a member of the Lucchese crime family, and eventual FBI informant. Goodfellas spanned 25 years from the height of the Lucchese family, all the way to its ultimate downfall in the early ‘80s.
Goodfellas was critically acclaimed and would eventually win an Academy Award for Pesci, who also played the consummate mob character to a tee as Nicky Santoro (based on real-life mob enforcer Anthony Spilotro) in the 1995 film, “Casino.”
As this project nears fruition on AMC, however, it is being reported that Homicide: Life on the Street writer Jorge Zamacona will join Pileggi in order to handle scripting duties for the proposed series. No word whether Scorsese will join the Goodfellas series in any way, shape or form, although Pileggi has reportedly suggested he might.
Early indications suggest that Goodfellas will focus on the Lucchese family heydays of the 1960s – a time period AMC has already cornered the market on with Mad Men. The next step will be to cast the major roles and to find actors.
