When last we reported on Kevin Spacey headlining a TV series, the actor and Desert Fox of community theater was set to star in HBO’s The Crux, a drama about a charismatic leader of a rich and powerful L.A.-based cult that is not explicitly but sure sounds a lot like Scientology. We haven’t heard anything about that since the summer, and now comes news that hints that maybe we won’t again: Spacey has signed on to star in the David Fincher-directed pilot for House Of Cards, an adaptation of the British novel and miniseries about a ruthlessly ambitious politician angling for the job of Prime Minister in the Margaret Thatcher era. (Obviously the setting will shift to a more contemporary, American milieu.)
Fincher and his Curious Case Of Benjamin Button screenwriter Eric Roth have been developing the series since at least 2009, and although it’s yet to be pitched to any networks, it seems as though Spacey’s involvement means it’s finally moving forward. Does the fact that Spacey has committed to starring in and executive producing another, different hour-long TV series suggest he's given up on The Crux? There’s no official word on that anywhere as of yet, so it’s too soon to tell when we can start feigning surprise that another Scientology satire may have been scrapped.