Seven delays Australian Gangster drama

EXCLUSIVE: 2018 true crime drama Australian Gangster has been delayed by Seven pending legal cases surrounding some of the characters depicted.

The script is understood to centre around the 2016 murder of an underworld figure with links to the Calabrian mafia.

Produced by John Edwards & Dan Edwards, written by Gregor Jordan (Two Hands) and Malcolm Knox (Romper Stomper, The Life, The Wonder Lover, A Private Man), it was announced at Seven’s AllFronts as “a genre-bending crime drama.”

“It’s on hold because of legal issues and so forth,” Head of Programming Angus Ross tells TV Tonight.

“There are a number of cases that are on-going around it.”

It’s unclear whether it will proceed as a 2019 proposition for Seven.

“Things have played out so it is in a holding pattern now,” said Ross.

Seven is also awaiting clarity around The Doctor Blake Mysteries for 2018 following recent headlines.

A wild tale of gangster ambition. The Instagram generation westie underworld collides with Sydney’s glamorous social elite. A world of spray tans, steroids, tatts, laundered drug money and Lamborghinis. All of this and the pursuit of a happy family life. It’s very funny, even amidst all the murders and mayhem. It’s just the kind of crazy story that Gregor Jordan (Two Hands, Ned Kelly) is the perfect person to tell. New local crime drama, Australian Gangster, is a Roadshow Rough Diamond production for Channel Seven, with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Create NSW.