Robert Downey Jr. was originally lined up to play the title role.
Granted, it's only a minute and a half long, but there's something about this trailer for 'Perry Mason' that has us particularly excited.
Maybe it's the noirish, '30s Los Angeles setting. Maybe it's the song choice - Radiohead's 'Life In A Glasshouse', no less. Maybe it's Matthew Rhys' very evocative voiceover. Who knows.
Either way, this looks promising.
'Perry Mason' is probably more familiar to American audiences, as it was a long-running TV series in the '60s that starred Raymond Burr. Burr was more known over on this side of the Atlantic for being the lead in 'Ironside'. Interestingly enough, Robert Downey Jr. was originally lined up to play the title role in this series, but then backed off with 'The Americans' star Matthew Rhys stepping in for him.
Anyway, the new HBO series follows the character in '30s Los Angeles where he's a private detective drawn into a shadowy conspiracy - aren't they always - that reveals "a fractured city and just maybe, a pathway to redemption for himself."
The cast is pretty strong, with the likes of John Lithgow, Robert Patrick, 'Orphan Black' star Tatiana Maslany, as well as 'Boardwalk Empire' alum Shea Whigham, veteran character actor Stephen Root, and plenty more besides.
Noir shows are having something of a comeback, and it's not hard to see why. They're always consistently good, like 'Babylon Berlin', 'True Detective' and hopefully this.
'Perry Mason' airs on HBO in the US on June 26th.