Chinatown | Scripts for prequel series are finished says screenwriter Robert Towne

chinatown robert towne prequel
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“The episodes have been written for Netflix,” screenwriter Robert Towne says of his Chinatown prequel series, which will be directed by David Fincher.


As the classic noir thriller Chinatown marked its 50th anniversary – it premiered on the 20th June 1974 – screenwriter Robert Towne recently provided an update on a long-rumoured prequel series.

Its episodes, Towne told Variety, “have been written,” and will explore the earlier years of detective Jake Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson in the original film.

The series was first reported on in 2019, with the story being that David Fincher would direct and that it would all be bankrolled by Netflix. The streaming giant didn’t comment on the reports at the time, but it sounds as though the show has been quietly in the works for the past five years, with Towne confirming that he’s been collaborating with Fincher on the project in the interim.

“All I’m likely to say is yes, all the episodes have been written for Netflix,” Towne said. “Working with a force of nature like David Fincher, tho’ occasionally humbling, is never less than enlightening.”

Although there isn’t a title yet, Towne did fill in a few details about the series’ premise. It’ll follow Gittes as a patrolling police officer, partnered with Lou Escobar, a character who was played by Perry Lopez in the film.

Chinatown, with all its implications for an evolving Los Angeles, is central to understanding the evolving Jake Gittes, as is his friendship with and dependence on his partner Lou Escobar,” Towne said. “It was enlightening to delve into their backstory, Escobar’s in particular. Small details that are touched on in the film are given life and breadth in a way that surprised even me.”

Read more: Chinatown is coming to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray for its 50th birthday

Directed by Roman Polanski, Chinatown is one of the most acclaimed films ever made, earning Towne an Oscar for Best Screenplay. It was a high bar neither Towne nor Nicholson could clear again; a 1990 sequel, written by the former and directed by the latter, was roundly pronounced a disappointment.

A collaboration between Fincher and Towne sounds potentially fascinating, though, and Netflix should have the pockets deep enough to realise the early 20th century Los Angeles demanded by the script.

“…I’m fond of the prequel that places Gittes newly in Los Angeles,” Towne said. “It is to this young Jake Gittes that I am particularly drawn. Because for all his bravado – his not playing by the rules, his penchant to be in charge – he controls events far less than events control him. And by the time he figures it out, it’s much too late to do anything about it, which seems to me the plight of the very young and the very old.”

One question is, who will play Gittes? Towne wrote the role specifically for Nicholson, and it’s hard to think of a current actor in their 20s or 30s who has quite the same atmosphere. There was a curious report last year that the role might go to Henry Cavill, which hasn’t yet been borne out.

More on this as we get it.

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