New York filmmakers Spike Lee and Robert De Niro have teamed up to take on the gritty 1980s past of Manhattan’s Alphabet City—now a much gentler East Village—in a drama series for Showtime, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

John Ridley will write the series, called "Alphaville," and Lee will direct the pilot.

Executive producers are Ridley, Lee, De Niro and Jane Rosenthal.

–Elizabeth Jensen