Cameron Crowe Teams With J.J. Abrams For Showtime’s ‘Roadies’ [UPDATED]
UPDATE:The LATreports that Showtime has officially greenlit theRoadiespilot. It’s not a series pickup, but the odds of us seeing the show someday just got a little bit better. Plus, read a new comment from Crowe about the show after the jump.Cameron Crowe’s next release, a romcom set in Hawaii, sounds like quintessential Cameron Crowe. But his next project after that has him foraying into brand-new territory. Crowe is reportedly teaming up withJ.J. Abrams' Bad Robot andMy So-Called LifecreatorWinnie HolzmanforRoadies, a comedy series on Showtime.Get all the details after the jump.
Few details have been given about the plot ofRoadies, other than that it’ll be set during a rock act’s U.S. tour. That part, at least, should be familiar territory for Crowe. He was a rock journalist before he was a filmmaker, and he later turned his experiences into the semi-autobiographical dramedyAlmost Famous.
UPDATE:In a statement, Crowe talked a bit about how the show came about. “J.J. and I have been talking about it for some time. We’re fans of crews, those workers up on the rigging towers, or walking feverishly with eight phones on their belt,” he said. “Those quietly devoted people live huge lives, they’re often the real keepers of the flame.”
Crowe is coming off ofWe Bought a Zoo, which was neither a big fat flop nor a big fat hit. He’s currently finishing up his untitled romcom starring Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone, due out this Christmas. We’re hoping it’ll be a return to form for the filmmaker, but either way a push into TV sounds like an exciting development for his career.
SinceMy So-Called Life, Holzman has worked on a few notable shows including ABC’sOnce and Againand ABC Family’sHuge. Both were praised by critics and enjoyed devoted fan followings, but both suffered in the ratings and were ultimately cancelled —Once and Againafter three seasons, andHugeafter just one.
And Abrams' success on TV, of course, needs no explanation. We should stress at this point thatRoadieshasn’t officially been picked up to series. But with talent like this on board, we imagine it won’t be long before it is.
