Amazon scoops David O. Russell series with Robert De Niro & Julianne Moore

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Director David O. Russell has a pretty stellar track record. His projects spanning from the 90's and into today, like FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, THE FIGHTER, THREE KINGS and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK are all fantastic movies, while even his less-than-fantastic movies like AMERICAN HUSTLE, JOY and I HEART HUCKABEES have very bright spots. But what makes his recent films must-sees for me has been the casting of Robert De Niro. A great director mixed with the god of acting always makes for terrific work, and their next collaboration should be no different.

Word around the campfire is that a series from Russell and starring actors De Niro and Julianne Moore has just been picked up by Amazon for a whopping $160 million dollars for two full-season orders of eight episodes a piece, outbidding studios like FX. Not much is known about the series itself, but more words around the campfire hint that it might be “a mafia crime series,” which will allow De Niro to finally achieve his lifelong dream of portraying someone in the mafia (*drum snares*).

This will mark yet another collaboration between De Niro and Russell, their previous efforts being SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (earning De Niro another Oscar nomination), AMERICAN HUSTLE and JOY. This also marks a big get for Amazon, whose original series content still falls behind the likes of other streaming services like Netflix. This is probably why they paid more than Taylor Swift’s net worth to get the show, which could be a potential Emmy behemoth, if it's as amazing as our all our hopes and dreams desire.

I don't remember JOY too much, but I loved De Niro in PLAYBOOK and his small role in HUSTLE was a high-point in an otherwise so-so flick. Plus, anything with “De Niro” and “mafia” in the description is a definite must for anyone with a beating heart and other functioning organs. Overall I'm super pumped to see what the team comes up with, and although I’ve never used Amazon for its streaming (still feeling the crack-high from that free two-day shipping), if this show excites me with its first footage I can see myself moseying on over to the TV tab.