Dustin Hoffman has agreed to star in the new Michael Mann/David Milch HBO series Luck. The series will cover the world of horse racing and gambling, a world peopled with great Damon Runyon-type racetrack characters. It’s the first time Hoffman has done television in over 40 years, so I’m guessing it must’ve cost HBO a bundle to get him.
Hoffman will play an ex-con who’s spent his life involved in all gambling-related fields, like the world of bookies, money laundering, casino bookmakers, and gambling. His character is “an intelligent, intuitive tough man,” says the Hollywood Reporter.
Dennis Farina plays his chauffeur, muscle man, and scheme partner, along with a horse trainer of questionable repute (John Ortiz), in a complex plan concerning the track.
Milch wrote it, Mann’s directing it, and they’re also co-producing with Carolyn Strauss and Henry Bronchtein (The Sopranos). Production is expected to start shooting in L.A. this spring.
