Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis have signed on for the CBS period crime drama pilot that may or may not still be called “Ralph Lamb.”
The ’60s-set Las Vegas pilot was written by Nicholas Pileggi (“Goodfellas”) and Greg Walker and will be directed by James Mangold (“Walk the Line”), so it’s already pretty star-studded behind the scenes as well.
News that Quaid and Chiklis were circling the project broke earlier this week, well into Quaid’s negotiations, but according to HollywoodReporter.com (and other sources), the deals have now closed.
Quaid will play Ralph Lamb himself, the real-life former rodeo cowboy who became sheriff of Clark County and went hard against the Las Vegas mob.
Chiklis is set as Chicago mobster Johnny Savino, who becomes Lamb’s main adversary.
The trade reports that both Quaid and Chiklis would serve as (or be credited as) co-executive producers.
The pilot is set up at CBS TV Studios.
Chiklis is, of course, an Emmy winner from his run on “The Shield.” The “Fantastic Four” star and Boston sports fan was most recently seen on ABC’s “No Ordinary Family.” He did the comedy pilot “Vince Uncensored” last spring.
Quaid, meanwhile, would be in his first regular series gig. He earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his performance as Bill Clinton in HBO’s “The Special Relationship.” The “Innerspace” and “The Big Easy” star also earned a Golden Globe nomination for “Far From Heaven.”