14 DAY TRIAL // HBO got another hit with the first season of “True Detective,” starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, but creator Nic Pizzolatto is now in a position in which he must find suitable replacements for the leads, as they will not return for season 2.
Negotiations are now well underway with Colin Farrell and Taylor Kitsch to take over, The Wrap has learned.
HBO refuses to confirm or deny the report because that would mean it would encourage gossip, but sources close to the situation reveal for the trade publication that Farrell is almost locked in in his contract.
Apparently, Pizzolatto wanted “a true movie star, someone who could play rugged and gritty.” As it happens, Farrell’s middle name is “rugged and gritty,” and he’s already proved his worth to fans and critics alike.
He will play the older male lead, while Kitsch will be his younger sidekick. A third lead will be female but, for the time being, no one knows who she will be.
Kitsch’s big screen performances have not been as spectacular as expected, since “Battleship” and “John Carter,” in which he starred, bombed hard at the box office. “John Carter” is actually one of the biggest flops ever in the history of cinematography, so I’m guessing he isn’t exactly boasting to everyone he appeared in it.
Then again, Kitsch also appeared in “The Normal Heart,” also on HBO, and that performance got people’s attention in all the right ways. Rumor has it that Pizzolatto initially wanted Garrett Hedlund of “TRON: Legacy” for “True Detective,” but settled on Kitsch after seeing him in “The Normal Heart.”