Robert Downey Jr. and 'True Detective' Creator Nic Pizzolatto Reportedly Developing HBO Series

Robert Downey Jr. and 'True Detective' creator Nic Pizzolatto are reportedly developing a series for HBO.

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Complex Original

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What if Robert Downey Jr. had starred in the third season of HBO's True Detective? That would be amazing. It's also not happening, but hey, this feels pretty close. 

Downey is reportedly in negotiations with the premium cable service to star in a drama written by True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto, according to a report by Variety that cited unnamed sources.

The report said the project is likely a reboot of Perry Mason, the old-school, black-and-white TV series from the '50s and '60s about a lawyer who was awesome at solving mysteries and getting his wrongfully-accused clients off the hook. There was talk a few years back about Downey making a Perry Mason movie, but he appears to have switched gears.

It took Downey a little bit longer than many of his other movie star peers, but it's not unusual to see some of the biggest stars in the world making the jump to TV. Take the aforementioned True Detective, for example, which brought Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey, Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughn, and Colin Farrell to the small screen over its two seasons.

Downey, for his part, hasn't been on a TV series since the early 2000s, when he was on Ally McBeal, before Iron Man made him a huge box office star again. It's not clear if this new show would be a limited-run or anthology series, but that would make sense considering he probably wants to get back to making movies at some point.

HBO hasn't flat-out said there won't be a third season of True Detective—McConaughey is definitely down—but there's still no news on that front, which isn't a good sign if you were holding out for a Season 3 redemption after that meh Season 2

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