Deadline reports that Titus Welliver (The Town, Argo) has been chosen for a lead role in the upcoming crime drama series from MGM+ titled The Westies. Weliver is set to star next to J.K. Simmons (Juno, La La Land).

Deadline confirms that the series is co-created by Chris Brancato (Godfather of Harlem, Narcos) and Michael Panes (Infamous, We Bought A Zoo). The show will be set in the 1980s and focus on the Westies gang during the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center. The gang consisted of a group of Irish-Americans who operated in Hell’s Kitchen. Although the gang was heavily outnumbered by the Italian mafia, their reputation for handling business with a heavy hand awarded them a fragile alliance. Drama within the gang over generational gaps leads to internal friction, which causes the gang to become part of an FBI investigation.

Deadline reports that Welliver will play Glenn Keenan, the role of a troubled NYPD officer who has a connection to the Westies gang. Keenan’s story will be that of an officer who will be conflicted between honoring his badge and his love for his son, who is being pulled into the orbit of the Westies.

Deadline has also reported that production for the show will begin in July and take place in Toronto, even though it’s set in New York. This comes against the backdrop of the current administration’s push to bring film production stateside once again. No Film School details the efforts of Hollywood unions sending a letter to the new administration calling for caveats in the One Big Beautiful Bill that would incentivize production in the US.

Deadline continues to reveal that Welliver is well known for his role in Amazon Prime’s Bosch. In that role he was on the other side of the map as LAPD detective Harry Bosch.