MGM+ has released the first trailer for The Westies, a new crime drama set in early 1980s New York, premiering July 12 on the network.
The series is set against the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Hell’s Kitchen, which promises a financial windfall for the Irish-American organized crime gang known as the Westies. Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Five Families of the Italian mafia, the Westies’ brutal reputation has earned them a fragile but profitable partnership. That peace is threatened from within as the brash younger generation clashes with old-school leadership, all while the FBI’s deepening investigation into the Italian mafia begins to close in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxE1kOCS5js
Oscar winner J.K. Simmons leads the eight-episode series as Eamon Sweeney, the charismatic but ruthless leader of the Westies whose neighborhood loyalty masks calculated brutality. Tom Brittney co-leads as Jimmy Roarke, a streetwise rising gangster mentored by Eamon whose allegiances will be tested as the Westies deepen their ties to the Gambino Crime Family. The cast also includes Jessica Frances Dukes as the FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Gambino Task Force, Titus Welliver as a troubled NYPD officer, Allen Leech, Sarah Bolger and Hamish Allan-Headley as John Gotti.
The series was co-created by Chris Brancato, the writer and producer behind Narcos, Narcos: Mexico, Godfather of Harlem and Hotel Cocaine, alongside Michael Panes. Brancato says the internal conflict at the heart of the show stems from a generational divide over cocaine trafficking, with the older Westies fearing it will invite informants and prison time. He also warned viewers not to get too attached to any one character.
“There is a body count on the show. There are people who drop, but hopefully, when that happens, it’ll feel to the viewer like it’s absolutely appropriate and dictated by the circumstances of the plot,” said Brancato.
Though the series is set during the height of the Trump era in New York, Brancato confirmed the real estate mogul will not appear in Season 1. “We decided to leave him out. He gets enough press,” he said. Production shot in Toronto, where the team built a 240-foot outdoor street set to authentically recreate 1980s Hell’s Kitchen.
The Westies premieres July 12 on MGM+.