Beloved director Quentin Tarantino is reportedly in talks to direct episodes of FX’s upcoming Justified revival series, Justified: City Primeval. The limited series will see Timothy Olyphant return to the role of Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, an old school lawman who tends to shoot first and avoid asking questions entirely, and could see Tarantino helm “one or two episodes,” according to a report from Deadline.
Should the talks yield results, Justified: City Primeval could see Quentin Tarantino reunite with Timothy Olyphant following their work on the seminal filmmaker’s Academy Award darling Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino has recently stated that his next big-screen project would be his last, but it’s likely that, should he sit behind the camera on a small handful of Justified: City Primeval episodes, these will not count in this regard.
The idea of Quentin Tarantino directing several episodes of the Justified revival series seems less of a surprise when you learn of the filmmaker’s love of Elmore Leonard, who created the character Raylan Givens. Tarantino has optioned several of Leonard’s works for adaptation over the years, even using the novel "Rum Punch" for inspiration when making Jackie Brown.
Justified first premiered on FX back in 2010, lasting 78 episodes that aired over six seasons, concluding in 2015. Based on Elmore Leonard's Raylan Givens stories, particularly "Fire in the Hole," the show stars Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, a tough deputy U.S. Marshal who enforces his own, Old-West style type of justice. The series revolves around the inhabitants and culture in the Appalachian Mountains area of eastern Kentucky, and the illegal goings-on which Raylan must thwart using his wits, bullets, and, of course, his trusty cowboy hat.
The drama series received critical acclaim throughout its run, thanks in large part to Timothy Olyphant's stellar central performance. His co-star Walton Goggins, who stars as Boyd Crowder, the son of one of Harlan's biggest career criminals, also received much praise for his magnetic portrayal. During its run Justified was nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, with two wins, for Margo Martindale's performance as Mags Bennett and Jeremy Davies' performance as Dickie Bennett.
Justified: City Primeval Picks Up with Raylan Given Eight Years After the Original Series
Justified: City Primeval will be based on the novel "City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit," and will pick up with Timothy Olyphant’s Raylan Givens some either years after his adventures in Kentucky. Since the original Justified series, Givens has left Kentucky and is now based in Miami, where he attempts to balance life as a marshal with being a part-time father of a 14-year-old girl.
A chance encounter on a Florida highway finds him heading to Detroit, where he crosses paths with Clement Mansell, aka The Oklahoma Wildman, a violent sociopath who has already slipped through the gaping holes in the legal system before. Not wanting Mansell to get away again, Givens will maneuver the killer into a wild Midwest showdown that only one of them is going to be walking away from.
Should Quentin Tarantino join Justified: City Primeval, he will work alongside several of the original Justified writers and producers, and showrunners Dave Andron and Michael Dinner.