Steven Spielberg hoped HBO would have tapped him to helm “Mare of Easttown.”
The Academy Award-winning director revealed that he is looking to direct a limited series and make his TV debut behind the camera with a series like acclaimed Emmy winner “Mare of Easttown.”
“I do have an appetite for long-form, and someday, I will direct a long-form series,” Spielberg said during the “Smartless” podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. “I mean, if someone would have brought me ‘Mare of Easttown,’ I would have done that. That was a beautifully directed story.”
The 2021 series starred Kate Winslet as a detective in small-town Pennsylvania who is swept up in a missing person’s case that hits too close to home. “Mare of Easttown” landed four Emmy wins, including acting awards for Winslet, Evan Peters, and Julianne Nicholson. Winslet has addressed the rumors of a second season for “Mare,” saying in December 2022 that “no decision has been made” to bring back the series.
Spielberg has never directed TV, but did executive produce limited series “Band of Brothers.” The “Fabelmans” auteur added that he was tempted to make 2012 historical epic “Lincoln” as a six-hour miniseries instead, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
“I was willing to do ‘Lincoln’ as a six-hour [show] because I couldn’t raise all the financing for it,” Spielberg said. “No one believed in it…I went around town and everyone turned me down. I was ready to make a deal with HBO to do it and expand it to six hours. Tony Kushner’s first draft was 550 pages, so I had the goods! I had the material. I don’t know if I could have talked Daniel Day-Lewis into doing six hours, but I was on the brink of that.”
Spielberg isn’t the only iconic director looking to move into the limited series space: Quentin Tarantino announced in November 2022 that he will be unveiling a limited series in early 2023.
Tarantino recently partnered with Netflix to release 2015 film “The Hateful Eight” in episodes. As for his forays into television, Tarantino previously was credited for penning “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series” episodes based on his film with Robert Rodriguez. He also wrote and directed two episodes of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” in 2005, and helmed one episode of “E.R.” in 1995, as well as playing a character on a two-parter of “Alias.” The slated upcoming limited series will mark Tarantino’s first major foray into the TV landscape.
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