HBO has been pretty happy so far with Martin Scorsese and Terrence Winter’s prohibition-era gangster series Boardwalk Empire, which was renewed for a second season after the first episode drew an average of 4.8 million viewers (the network’s strongest premiere since Deadwood in 2004). Now it looks like Scorsese might be delving into more TV work with the confirmation of a potential spin-off based on his 1990 film Goodfellas. News of this possibility first cropped up last month over at Deadline New York, but at the time only screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi was said to be involved. Now Scorsese’s name has been mentioned in the mix as well, which should give the series a big boost of credibility.

Speaking with Culture Magazine in the U.K., Pileggi gave the following status update on the project:

“We’re trying (to develop the TV series). I want to do it, Marty wants to do it, Warner Bros wants to do it… I think we’re going to figure out a way to do the early years – sort of a prequel. The part of the movie people often like best is the opening third, where all the funny stuff is happening, and there’s so much we could fit in.”

Last month we also heard rumours that Al Pacino and Joe Pesci might be joining a mob movie that Scorsese and DeNiro have been developing for a couple of years now, so perhaps Scorsese is currently in the right mindset to return to this material. It’s unclear if he would direct the pilot like he did for Boardwalk Empire, or simply produce, but I don’t think any networks out there would turn something like this down. I’m assuming they’d take it to HBO or another cable network, because clearly no one would want to see a watered down, sanitized Goodfellas series. Do you like the idea of a Goodfellas prequel? Could this be something great, or should they just leave it alone?

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