Apple scraps Richard Gere's Bastards drama

The Hollywood Reporter

24's Howard Gordon and Law & Order: SVU's Warren Leight's eight-episode dark drama starring Gere based on an Israeli drama is not moving forward, even though it was picked up straight to series last December. Gere was supposed to play one of two elderly Vietnam vets and best friends who "find their monotonous lives upended when a woman they both loved 50 years ago is killed by a car. Their lifelong regrets and secrets collide with their resentment of today's self-absorbed millennials and the duo then go on a shooting spree." According to The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg, "Gordon and Leight collaborated on two scripts and, sources say, were met with notes from Apple about the show's tone of vigilante justice. Sources say Gordon did not want to focus on the larger metaphor of friendship between the two Vietnam vets and wanted to focus on the darker elements of the series, with Fox 21 executives backing the veteran producer. Leight departed shortly afterward and Apple, which multiple sources note is looking for aspirational programming, wanted to ensure the series was focused on the heart and emotion of the central friendship."