Rocky Franchise Vet & Suicide Squad Director To Lead HBO Max’s New Crime Series

by

I’m really excited about this new HBO Max crime series! They’ve brought on someone who’s worked on the Rocky movies – a real pro – and the director of Suicide Squad, which suggests it’s going to be a pretty intense and well-made show. I’m definitely adding it to my watchlist!

The popular boxing film series currently consists of six Rocky movies and three Creed movies. These include Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Rocky V (1990), and Rocky Balboa (2006), as well as Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), and Creed III (2023). Separately, the DC film Suicide Squad, starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Will Smith as Deadshot, was released in 2016.

HBO Max has announced that Milo Ventimiglia, known for his role in the Rocky films, and director David Ayer (Suicide Squad) will headline the pilot episode of American Blue. The series, a police drama created by former Supernatural showrunner Jeremy Carver and Warner Bros. Television, stars Ventimiglia as Brian “Milk” Milkovich. He’s a strong, understated leader who returns to his hometown of Joliet, Illinois, hoping to rebuild the police force and make amends for his past.

While Milo Ventimiglia appeared as Robert Balboa Jr. in the Rocky and Creed films, he’s most famous for playing Jack Pearson in the popular NBC drama This Is Us, which ran for six seasons and earned him three Emmy nominations. HBO’s choice to cast Ventimiglia, a well-known television actor, is similar to what they did with The Pitt, where Noah Wyle, a star from network TV, played the lead. Like The Pitt, American Blue will focus on realism, have longer seasons, release annually, and be made on a reasonable budget. Here’s a statement about the new show from Sarah Aubrey, Head of Max Original Programming:

American Blue is a realistic and intense police drama that explores the complex issues facing law enforcement today. Like our show The Pitt, we plan to create seasons that allow viewers to become fully immersed in the world of the show and look forward to new installments each year. We’re excited to bring Jeremy Carver’s vision for American Blue to life, with Milo Ventimiglia starring and David Ayer directing the first episode.

Following the strong success of The Pitt – with positive reviews, a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes, high ratings, and Emmy awards – HBO is hoping to create similar shows focused on investigations and cases. American Blue isn’t the only new show they’re developing with this in mind; a family drama called Survive Without Me is also being planned. Milo Ventimiglia’s background in traditional network TV, combined with Carver’s experience working on long seasons of Supernatural (often with over 20 episodes), suggests they aim for a similar, engaging format.

David Ayer, who’s directing ‘American Blue’, is relatively new to television, having directed just two episodes of the Fox show ‘Deputy’. Beyond ‘Suicide Squad’, he’s also directed films like ‘End of Watch’, the Netflix movie ‘Bright’, and the Jason Statham action films ‘The Beekeeper’ and ‘A Working Man’.

Read More

2026-01-31 23:50