American Gigolo calling for Showtime
Feeling a sense of deja-vu? Well, it’s because American Gigolo, the stylish 1980 male escort drama starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton, keeps promising to become a TV series and then just… not. In its day, the film was obsessed over for its fashionable details, as well as for its strange straddling of queer panic and queer pleasure, all while objectifying its occasionally nude star. But now comes another chance of resurrection at Showtime, where Jon Bernthal (Ford v Ferrari) will star as the sex worker who was framed for murder. David Hollander (Ray Donovan) is penning the script that updates the story to present day (and yet set only 18 years after the original story, so good luck keeping your mind wrapped around that), as the older, wiser Gigolo struggles to find his way in the modern sex industry of Los Angeles, all while trying to sort out the truth about who framed him so many years ago. We’re not holding our breath for this one because we were promised it before, but now that Showtime’s delightfully trashy reality series Gigolos is no more, there’s a vacant space in our hearts waiting for a hero.
Joel Kim Booster’s Trip to Quibi
Actor and standup comic Joel Kim Booster (The Other Two, which he co-produces) is taking his new project to Quibi, the streaming platform for short-form series. It’s called Trip, and he’ll write, produce and star in it, a mini-sitcom about two gay friends on vacation in Fire Island. The twist here is that Trip, while ostensibly about gays doing typical gay things in a gay place, is inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (can’t wait to see who the Mr. Darcy turns out to be). This will mark Booster’s debut as a series creator, and we’re looking forward to seeing how much of his stand-up material – which sometimes involves discussions of his religious upbringing and always includes details of his life as a gay, Asian man – will make it into the final product. No matter what, it’s a trip we’re ready to take.
Romeo San Vicente is a full round trip all by himself.
