Robert De Niro Returning To TV With New Crime Series
Robert De Niro is set to star in and executive produce a crime drama titled Bobby Meritorious.
When it comes to crime-based storytelling, Robert De Niro is one of the most sought-after actors in the biz. From starring opposite fellow greats like Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese’s epic gangster flick The Irishman to getting silly with Billy Crystal in Analyze This, not to mention, his famed role in Heat, De Niro takes the cake in the genre. According to The Hollywood Reporter, for the second time in his career, De Niro will be taking things from the big screen to the small as he’s been tapped by Paramount+ to star in and executive produce a crime drama titled Bobby Meritorious.
After what sounds like a very high-stakes bidding process, the streamer managed to win the rights to the Billy Ray (Captain Phillips) penned project and plans to move forward with it as quickly as they can. The series will center around Robert De Niro’s Avery “The Sage” Accomando, an informant for the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York. With a price tag on his head, Accomando threatens to blow the roof off a coverup from within the establishment with only one man standing in his way – an ex-cop-turned-prosecutor named Bobby Meritorious.
At this point, Robert De Niro is the only actor attached to the production, so as for who we can expect to see playing the titular “hero” standing in the way of justice, it’s unclear if the team has anyone in mind just yet. As mentioned, the legendary De Niro will also be executive producing for his Tribeca Productions with his peers Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh. Along with writing, Billy Ray will join as an executive producer alongside former U.S. attorneys in the SDNY office, Preet Bharara, and Peter Gethers.
Should the project continue to move forward, it will be Robert De Niro’s second foray into the world of series acting. Several months ago, Netflix announced that they had tapped the Oscar-winning actor to take the lead in a limited series titled Zero Day. Narcos showrunner Eric Newman created the project, which is set to see De Niro portraying a former United States President in what will shape up to be an edge-of-your-seat political thriller.
Finally gaining traction, Netflix has officially moved forward with Zero Day over the last month, better fleshing out the show’s plot and announcing that Robert De Niro will also serve as an executive producer. Centered around the wide world of conspiracy theories, the thriller will take audiences on a pulse-pounding search for the truth. Pouring through what we think we know versus the facts, Zero Day sounds like it will do a dramatized deep dive into how we perceive and move forward with information in this day and age.
But, just because he’s taking a chance on television projects, don’t think that Robert De Niro has turned his back on the big screen. The actor has a slew of projects in both pre, current, and post-production, with the star joining forces with frequent collaborators Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon, as well as jumping back and forth into the worlds of comedy and mafia dramas. As of right now, nothing more has been revealed for Bobby Meritorious but stay tuned for more information.
