Before his untimely death in June, James Gandolfini had starred in a pilot for a TV series called Criminal Justice for HBO (the same network responsible for giving him his most famous role in The Sopranos). Unusually for such a big name actor, Gandolfini - who was also a producer for the show - had only appeared in a single scene at the end of the episode, playing an attorney who has to defend a man (Riz Ahmed) accused of murdering a girl in New York.

It was initially unsure whether HBO would fund the seven episode mini-series following Gandolfini's death. However, the creators have landed a major coup in the form of Mr. Robert de Niro who will now play the 'ambulance chasing' attorney for the full series. Deadline reports HBO and creator Steven Zaillian's list "consisted of one name only, Robert De Niro, who responded and came on board". The series is now expected to start full production in March.

The new show will mark the first major TV role for de Niro, unless we're counting the Godfather mini-series that saw the first two films in the series re-edited chronologically for television. However, de Niro has made one-off small screen appearances in comedies 30 Rock and Extras.

Criminal Justice will be based on a BBC series of the same name, written by Peter Moffat. The show lasted two seasons, with each series focusing on the legal experiences of a person accused of murder. The suspects were played by Ben Whishaw in season one and Maxine Peake in season two.

James Gandolfini will retain an executive producer credit for Criminal Justice. While his scene from the pilot will be re-shot with De Niro, the late Gandolfini had completed work on two films before his death. Enough Said has just been released in the US to very positive reviews (for both Gandolfini's performance and the film itself), while crime-drama Animal Rescue is due next year.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)