How do you follow up a critical darling and ratings smash, starring two A-list actors, while starting over from scratch with new characters, a new story and a new cast? Oh, and then there are those just-announced 12 Emmy nominations scored by the show? "True Detective" landed an even dozen nods for HBO, including nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Directing, Writing, and a pair of Lead Actor nominations for Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey.
So, you know, no pressure or anything.
Show creator and sole writer Nic Pizzolatto spoke to Andrew Romano of The Daily Beast about his success and managed to spill a few Season 2 details and address some rumors as well.
Season 2 will double-up on main characters, with four instead of Season 1's two. All Pizzolatto would confirm about the story is that it's set in California. He'd previously stated on the record that Seaston 2 would center around the "secret occult history of the U.S. transportation system," but in this latest interview stopped short of committing to that. Perhaps the storyline has changed during development -- a common occurrence in creative arts -- or maybe Pizzolatto was just being coy.
He claimed that despite numerous casting rumors being supposedly leaked (including the likes of Brad Pitt, Josh Brolin and Jessica Chastain being pursued), the casting process has not yet begun for the season's four leads. HBO's programming chief Michael Lombardo, on the other hand, contradicted Pizzolatto on this point. Lombardo told attendees of the Television Critics Association press tour on July 10 that casting was underway and that an announcement about the season's stars could be just a week away.
Pizzolatto did, however, strongly hint that the show would again be seeking A-list movie stars for the new season. Deadline firmly believes that one of them will be Colin Farrell, who is apparently in talks for a role in the show.
Besides a new cast, Season 2 will use multiple directors. (Season 1 was directed in its entirety by Cary Fukunaga.) One of those directors might just be William Friedkin.
Pizzolatto also revealed that he is currently halfway through writing the new season's scripts, which one assumes will match the first season's eight episodes. Lombardo, at the TCA press tour, said that having read the first two scripts, that Season 2 is looking to be "more exciting" than the first. Pizzolatto, meanwhile, confirmed a past statement that his plan is to do "True Detective" for just three seasons and then move on to other kinds of TV shows.
HBO has not announced a date for Season 2 of "True Detective," but the smart money is on early 2015.
