In late August, Amazon debuted five new pilots for Amazon Prime users’ viewing pleasure: The Cosmopolitans, Really, Hysteria, Hand of God, and Red Oaks. Today, Amazon is announcing that two of those shows have survived the pilot round and have been greenlit for full series productions
It’s the latter two – Hand of God and Red Oaks. Hand of God is the television debut of director Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, World War Z). It stars Sons of Anarchy‘s Ron Perlman as Judge Pernell Harris, “a hard-living, law-bending married man with a high-end call girl on the side, who suffers a mental breakdown and goes on a vigilante quest to find the rapist who tore his family apart.”
Red Oaks is produced by director Steven Soderbergh. It stars Craig Roberts (Submarine), Paul Reiser, Richard Kind, and Jennifer Grey, and is being directed by David Gordon Green of Eastbound & Down acclaim. “A coming-of-age comedy set in the “go-go” 80s that is equal parts hijinks and heartfelt, Red Oaks is about enjoying a last hurrah before summer comes to an end—and the future begins,” says Amazon Studios. It revolves around an assistant tennis pro at a country club, and its “colorful” cast of characters.
Like with all other Amazon pilot seasons, customer feedback helped determine which pilots got picked up.
“We are excited to get working on full seasons of Hand of God and Red Oaks,” said Roy Price, Vice President of Amazon Studios. “These shows come from some of the most talented creators in the business. Customers loved the pilot episodes and we can’t wait to hear what they think of the entire series.”
Amazon, who’s been battling for a while now to gain any ground on Netflix in the original content from streaming providers race, made a significant leap forward last week with the debut of Transparent. It’s receiving rave reviews. Amazon’s also set to premiere the second season of its first-ever original series, Alpha House, on October 24.
Image via Amazon Studios, YouTube screenshot