Posted in: FX, Preview, Trailer, TV | Tagged: city primeval, fx networks, justified, preview, raylan givens, Timothy Olyphant

Justified: City Primeval Director on Raylan Givens' On-Screen Future

Justified: City Primeval Director Michael Dinner on what the on-screen future could hold for Timothy Olyphant's U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens.

With the newest episode of Davie Andron & Michael Dinner's Justified: City Primeval less than 24 hours old, we're going to hold off on any spoilers when it comes to S01E03: "Backstabbers." But what we do have for you is a look at what the future might hold for U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) after his run in Detroit. With the series return being well-received by fans and critics alike, could there be further tales to tell down the road? "Well, here's the thing. We didn't do this to go back to the past but to go back to the feeling we had doing this in the past. And I think everybody came away from it feeling like we had a great time: the writers who were in the room, the actors, most particularly Tim," Dinner shared during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I've said it before, but I think the six years of the original 'Justified' is the first act of this guy's life. The story is you can't go home again, but this is a different story. We pick him up about 10 years later, and there's an existential story in these eight episodes. The road in front of him is a lot shorter than the road behind, and how do we deal with that? It's something we'll all deal with, you know?"

Dinner continued, "But I do think there's a third chapter, in success, if the audience comes to this. We're waiting to see how that happens over the next couple of weeks, and if FX wants to do another chapter, I think that Tim would want to do it. Dave and I would want to do it. ['Justified' showrunner] Graham [Yost] is in an Apple deal, but he acted like the uncle on this. And whether he is still in an Apple deal or not, he would probably give it his blessing. The rest of the writers would also want to do it, so it'd be great to do another chapter."

A Look at FX's Justified: City Primeval

Inspired by Elmore Leonard's City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, the series return finds Raylan Givens (Olyphant) having left the hollers of Kentucky eight years ago and now living in Miami, a walking anachronism balancing his life as a U.S. Marshal and part-time father of a 14-year-old girl. His hair is grayer, his hat is dirtier, and the road in front of him is suddenly a lot shorter than the road behind.

A chance encounter on a desolate Florida highway sends him to Detroit. There he crosses paths with Clement Mansell, aka "The Oklahoma Wildman" (Boyd Holbrook), a violent, sociopathic desperado who's already slipped through the fingers of Detroit's finest once and aims to do so again. Mansell's lawyer, formidable Motor City native Carolyn Wilder (Aunjanue Ellis), has every intention of representing her client, even as she finds herself caught in between cop and criminal, with her own game afoot as well. These three characters set out on a collision course in classic Leonard fashion to see who makes it out of the "City Primeval" alive.

Along with Olyphant, the FX limited series Justified: City Primeval also stars Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard), Boyd Holbrook (The Premise), Adelaide Clemens (The Great Gatsby), Vondie Curtis Hall (Harriet), Marin Ireland (Y: The Last Man), Ravi Patel (The Valet, Meet the Patels), Norbert Leo Butz (Bloodline), Victor Williams (The Good Lord Bird), and Vivian Olyphant. Dave Andron & Michael Dinner write, executive produce & serve as showrunners (with Dinner directing).

Produced by Sony Pictures Television and FX Productions, Olyphant, Graham Yost, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Peter Leonard, Taylor Elmore (writer), and Chris Provenzano (writer) executive produce. Walter Mosley serves as a consulting producer, with V.J. Boyd, Eisa Davis, and Ingrid Escajeda also writing the series.

In the following featurette, we learn how Leonard's novel was adapted in a way to be a Raylan story, modernizing the character to match different views on law enforcement while still maintaining a "fun" aspect, and more:

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