In a competitive situation, True Detective, an eight-part event drama series project starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, has landed at HBO with a straight-to-series order. I hear the pay cable network is finalizing a deal for an eight-episode order to the high-concept cop drama written on spec by Nic Pizzolatto, with Cary Fukunaga (Jane Eyre) on board to direct all episodes.
True Detective, which sparked heated bidding after it was taken out to the top cable networks earlier this month, is descried as an elevated serial narrative with multiple perspectives and time frames. It centers on two detectives, Rust Cohle (McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Harrelson), whose lives collide and entwine during a seventeen-year hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana. The investigation of a bizarre murder in 1995 is framed and interlaced with testimony from the detectives in 2012, when the case has been reopened. The concept is for the 8-episode first season to resolve the mystery at hand, with subsequent seasons using same structure but new characters and story. True Detective is gearing up to start production right away. It is ready to do so with director and stars already on board as well as two written episodes and a bible, which were part of the project’s pitch.
— On True Detective (upcoming drama series) : "It's very much a character piece. The strength of the writing is that in a familiar drama it blew my socks off. The show is set up as an anthology. This 1st season narrative ends after these episodes conclude, we haven't had talk about what a 2nd season would be".
That article is from April. Still no air date yet but this is pretty much guaranteed to be a hit on a channel like HBO with a cast like that.