'Penny Dreadful' Director Returning to Helm Spinoff 'City of Angels' Episodes

Showtime is moving forward with a Penny Dreadful spinoff this year, and it looks like the production is set to bring along a familiar face. Paco Cabezas, who directed multiple episodes of the original series, will continue his work with the franchise and helm several episodes of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, including the show's pilot.

According to Deadline, Cabezas has already signed on to the spinoff, joining franchise creator, writer, and executive producer John Logan. News of the director's hire was first made by Showtime programming president Gary Levine at Thursday's TCA presentation. Production on Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is set to begin sometime this year.

"We were so thrilled when John Logan came to us with this wildly original take on the Penny Dreadful mythology that explores both the human spirit and the spirit world here in California," Levine said in a statement. "Penny Dreadful: City of Angels promises to be an extraordinary saga of familial love set against the terrifying monsters that are around us and within us."

While the original Penny Dreadful series, which ran on Showtime for three seasons, took place in Victorian-era London, City of Angels will shift the focus to Los Angeles in 1938. After a terrifying murder sends shockwaves through the city, a detective gets lost in an epic story that digs into the heart of the city's rich history.

"Penny Dreadful: City of Angels will have a social consciousness and historical awareness that we chose not to explore in the Penny Dreadful London storylines," Logan explained. "We will now be grappling with specific historical and real-world political, religious, social and racial issues. In 1938, Los Angeles was facing some hard questions about its future and its soul. Our characters must do the same. There are no easy answers. There are only powerful questions and arresting moral challenges. As always in the world of Penny Dreadful, there are no heroes or villains in this world, only protagonists and antagonists; complicated and conflicted characters living on the fulcrum of moral choice."

Logan will once again serve as creator, writer, and executive producer, and he will be joined by fellow EPs Michael Aguilar, Sam Mendes, and Pippa Harris. James Bagley will serve as co-executive producer.

Are you looking forward to Penny Dreadful: City of Angels? Let us know in the comments!

All three seasons of Penny Dreadful are currently streaming on Netflix.