The Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier is reportedly in talks about joining a now untitled project for Amazon Studios to take on the directing role, according to Deadline. While nothing is absolutely official yet, it seems highly likely that Bier will come on to the show formerly known as Tropicana to help it get back on development.
The untitled project focuses on the pre-revolutionary Cuban state–a topic audiences will likely be seeing more and more of now that Cuban-American relations have resumed. The Tropicana nightclub (hence its former name) serves as the center of the whole story, circulating around to feature mobsters, singers–and other kinds of “entertainers”–loyalists to dictator Fulgencio Batista, and followers of revolutionary leader (and future communist overlord) Fidel Castro. A sprinkling of American CIA agents, who of course have a massive role to play in the 1950s Cuban turmoil, will be seen as well.
The pilot for the show was green-lit last month by Amazon Studios, piled among five other new series that will likely give Amazon a sharper edge in the coming years of rising streaming monopolies of viewerships, award shows, etcetera. The script was written by Josh Goldin and Rachel Abramowitz, and for the married pair of writers, this project will be a redemption piece. The two were given a shot in 2011 by FX to write to series a show called Outlaw County, but unfortunately, the project never made it to screens. Goldin and Abramowitz were given rewriting opportunities, which they took on and extensively did so, but still, FX passed and passed. Eventually, they had the scribes turn the series into a made-for-TV movie after two years of tweaking and rewriting.
Bier could be the captain to right this new ship. Her celebrated work in her home market of Denmark has earned her much acclaim; from Brothers to After the Wedding, Bier was seen as one of the finest directors there was. When she finally stepped into the Hollywood world, she fit in swimmingly. Her directing of a new miniseries, The Night Manager, just caught award-giving attention earlier this week as Bier was given an Emmy nomination (the show received twelve overall).
News about whether or not Bier will officially sign on will come likely in the next few days.