Starz is looking for some help in the original programming department and is hoping to get it from writers Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing, who worked on the network’s previous big hit, Spartacus. The project is titled Gringo and centers on organized crime in Mexico.
Gringo is based on The Shadow Catcher, a non-fiction book by U.S. Immigration Officer Hipolito Acosta and Lisa Pulitzer, notes TheWrap. The lead role is a Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent who goes undercover to follow a Mexican drug cartel that not only smuggles drugs, but people as well.
“Gringo provides a thrilling and uniquely personal look into international organized crime, never seen by the American public, from the viewpoint of a federal undercover agent on the front lines,” Starz managing director Carmi Zlotnik said in a statement to Deadline.
Acosta will be a consulting producer on the series. Bee Holder Productions’ Steve Lee Jones is the executive producer.
The Helbing brothers worked on Spartacus: War of the Damned and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, as well as Smallville and The Mob Doctor. They are also producers on Black Sails, Starz’s new pirate drama, which begins in January.
Starz could really use a new hit show, since aside from Da Vinci’s Demons, it doesn’t have much since Spartacus ended. Both Boss and Magic City were cancelled after two seasons.
image: Amazon