SHOWTIME has announced the next chapter of the PENNY DREADFUL saga with PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS. John Logan, creator, writer and executive producer of the Emmy nominated series PENNY DREADFUL, will continue in those same roles. Joining him as an executive producer will be Michael Aguilar (KIDDING). Production is expected to begin in 2019. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Programming, Showtime Networks Inc.
A spiritual descendant of the PENNY DREADFUL story set in Victorian-era London, the next chapter opens in 1938 Los Angeles, a time and place deeply infused with Mexican-American folklore and social tension. Rooted in the conflict between characters connected to the deity Santa Muerte and others allied with the Devil, PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS will explore an exciting mix of the supernatural and the combustible reality of that period, creating new occult myths and moral dilemmas within a genuine historical backdrop. This chapter is a bold new vision that will employ all new characters and storylines.
“We were so thrilled when John Logan came to us with this wildly original take on the Penny Dreadful mythology that explores both the human spirit and the spirit world here in California,” Levine said. “PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS promises to be an extraordinary saga of familial love set against the terrifying monsters that are around us and within us.
“PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS will have a social consciousness and historical awareness that we chose not to explore in the PENNY DREADFUL London storylines,” Logan said. “We will now be grappling with specific historical and real world political, religious, social and racial issues. In 1938, Los Angeles was facing some hard questions about its future and its soul. Our characters must do the same. There are no easy answers. There are only powerful questions and arresting moral challenges. As always in the world of PENNY DREADFUL, there are no heroes or villains in this world, only protagonists and antagonists; complicated and conflicted characters living on the fulcrum of moral choice.”
PENNY DREADFUL premiered in 2014 and had a jaw-dropping third-season finale in June 2016. The series has been honored with 13 Primetime Emmy® nominations, as well as a Golden Globe® nomination for lead actress Eva Green, and won three BAFTA® Awards. PENNY DREADFUL has developed an incredibly loyal fanbase, lovingly called “The Dreadfuls,” that followed and rabidly commented on every twist and turn of the series.
PENNY DREADFUL is executive produced by John Logan and Michael Aguilar (KIDDING), along with Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road), both of Neal Street Productions. Logan’s Desert Wolf Productions will produce, and James Bagley will serve as co-executive producer.
SHOWTIME is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS, and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Amazon, Apple®, Google, LG Smart TVs, Oculus Go, Roku®, Samsung, and Xbox One. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Amazon’s Prime Video Channels, DirecTV Now, FuboTV, Hulu, Sling TV, Sony PlayStation™ Vue, and YouTube TV or directly at www.showtime.com. The network’s authentication service, SHOWTIME ANYTIME, is available at no additional cost to SHOWTIME customers who subscribe to the network through participating providers.
Photo: Showtime