HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Oh joy, Hollywood is taking a crack at porn again, this time as a television drama titled WonderWorld, which is currently in development by Starz and actor/producer Owen Wilson, who will exec produce the project along with Law & Order writer/producer René Balcer, Fred Berner and Regina Lee.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “WonderWorld revolves around two straight-arrow agents as they infiltrate the Mob-controlled porn industry of the 1980s, facing dire consequences for both themselves and their families.”
THR refers to the show as an “FBI drama,” while Entertainment Weekly calls it a “porn drama.”
EW opens its piece, “Starz and Owen Wilson are teaming to develop a new drama series set in the world of the 1980s pornography business.” THR’s lede states, “Starz is teaming with Owen Wilson and Law & Order's Rene Balcer to develop a period FBI drama.”
Maybe it’s both? “For Starz,” adds THR, “WonderWorld comes as the premium cable network looks to have 75 hours of original programming on its airwaves in the coming years.”
Balcer, who serves as showrunner, probably intends to populate his scripts with myriad plotlines culled from an archive of “true stories” about the business, which got us thinking that the show’s verisimilitude would likely be enhanced if he looked up some of the people from that era still active in the biz or around to talk about it, one or two of whom might have a score to settle here or there.
Wilson, pictured, has hobnobbed with the biz before.
