Is True Detective over at HBO? Creator departs for FX

Is True Detective at the end of the road after three seasons? There was never any confirmation that a season 4 would happen; yet, we know there was hope after season 3 helped to redeem the franchise.

Yet, there is news today that signals that we may be nearing the end of the road for this franchise. Per The Hollywood Reporter, creator Nic Pizzolatto has moved his overall deal from HBO to Fox 21, the Disney-owned cable and streaming studio. Not only that, but he’s also set up his first series there for FX in Redeemer, where he will reunite with True Detective alum Matthew McConaughey. While there is no official confirmation that the series will make it to air just yet, there is a strong script-to-series commitment.

In confirming this news, FX Entertainment president Eric Schrier had the following to say:

“We are thrilled to begin our creative partnership with Nic Pizzolatto and Matthew McConaughey on Redeemer, who are back together for the first time since the first season of HBO’s True Detective … We’re also incredibly excited about our overall deal with Nic and look forward to developing new projects with him and our partners Fox 21 Television Studios, and we’re equally excited to be developing projects with Matthew through his first-look deal with FXP.”

Per the official logline, Redeemer will star Matthew as a “former minister-turned-dissolute security guard, whose search for a missing woman in Texas leads him through a corruption and criminal conspiracy, as his past and present impact and entwine around a mystery of escalating violence and deceit.” The series, an adaptation, feels perfectly in line for what we know from some of Pizzolatto’s work.

As for the future of True Detective…

HBO does still own the rights to the franchise, and it is possible that they will someday order a season 4. Yet, it will likely have a new showrunner and a separate creative vision. At that point, it mostly comes down to whether or not they want to continue to use the title to draw in viewers; otherwise, it could prove to be a totally new show. Through all of its highs and lows, True Detective was a Nic Pizzolatto show. We have a hard time imagining someone else taking it over and it having anywhere near the same style or substance at its core. It would just feel like a different beast altogether.

Once there is some more news about all of the projects mentioned within, we’ll have it for you here.

Are you excited about Redeemer as a project?

Be sure to share in the comments below. (Photo: HBO.)