Ahead of the release of Dolittle this week, Team Downey is making some big moves in the world of television. The production company run by Avengers: Endgame star Robert Downey Jr. and wife/producing partner Susan Downey has inked a first-look TV deal with HBO, doubling down on the partnership their company formed with the network while working on the upcoming series Perry Mason, starring Matthew Rhys. The show is set to bow on HBO later this year.
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The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of Team Downey’s new deal with HBO on Tuesday morning. The signed deal is a one-year, first-look partnership between the network and production company, giving HBO the first chance to air any series produced by Team Downey.
“HBO provided a happy home for Perry Mason,” the Downeys said in a statement to THR. “We’re excited to roll up our sleeves, expand the partnership, and tell stories that meet the standard their brand has come to represent.”
The new Perry Mason show was reportedly first conceived as a feature film that would star Downey Jr. It was then put into development at HBO with True Detective‘s Nic Pizzolatto set as the writer. The series as it currently stands is meant to be a prequel of sorts to the Perry Mason that aired on CBS from 1957 to 1966, based on the Erle Stanley Gardner character. Matthew Rhys’ version of the character exists in the years before he was a defense attorney, following his journey as a low-rent private investigator.
“We’re so pleased to have this creative relationship with Team Downey,” said HBO programming president Casey Bloys. “They are supremely talented storytellers, and we can’t wait to unveil our first collaboration when Perry Mason debuts later this year.”
On the feature film side, Team Downey has produced the Sherlock Holmes films, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Judge, and Dolittle.
