Con Air director Simon West teams with The Who on TV series

Con Air and The Expendables 2 director Simon West is in development on a TV series about London’s music scene in the 1960s, with iconic rock band The Who in talks to collaborate on the project.

West is currently working on the script for Mods and Rockers (working title).

The iconic UK band, including Pete Townsend and Roger Daltry, are in talks to handle music on the series and co-produce with West - who will direct and produce through his UK outfit Simon West Productions – and band manager and film producer Bill Curbishley (The Railway Man, Quadrophenia).

West envisages Mods and Rockers as an eight-part “international series”.

“We’re not remaking Quadrophenia but it’s that kind of world,” he told ScreenDaily. “It will also cover the rockers’ side of the story and spills out into the wider world of swinging ‘60s London, taking in gangsters, music and fashion. The two tribes will be at the heart of it.”

“I’d like to replicate the model of those feature directors who shoot all episodes of a series in one go, back to back, then split them up” he added. “That way I would get control over the look and essence of the piece from top to bottom.”

According to West, the script is generating heat from a number of major broadcasters and established production companies.

While primarily working in film, the British director said TV is becoming an increasingly important part of his output, with one US and another UK TV series also in the works at his production company.

The British director-producer, whose blockbuster credits also include Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Black Hawk Down (executive producer), most recently wrapped on Jason Statham crime-thriller Wild Card.

West is also in development on a big-budget drama Tolkien & Lewis about J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and action-comedy Salty, for which the director is turning to crowd-funding.

The Who’s classic 1973 album Quodrophenia inspired the 1979 film of the same name, while the band’s 1969 rock opera Tommy was adapted into a 1975 film by director Ken Russell with Daltry in the lead role.