6 June, 2025 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 3 categories

The HBO featurette behind-the-scenes of 2011's "Luck" with Michael Mann, David Milch and Dustin Hoffman.

Luck In Production…

Luck was supposed to be HBO‘s ambitious new series that would follow the past hits like The Sopranos and Deadwood, but then tragedy struck on set, and not once, but three times. During the production of the second season, which had been greenlit before the series finished its first season, three horses died. With each horses death, the outrage grew and the conversation lengthed concerning Animal Welfare on film and television productions. By the third horse death, and despite HBO addressing the concern with a change to safety guidelines on set, the protests grew from animal activists, such as PETA, and HBO was forced to cancel the series before the first season finished airing.

Genre Drama Created by David Milch Starring Dustin Hoffman Dennis Farina John Ortiz Richard Kind Kevin Dunn Ian Hart Ritchie Coster Jason Gedrick Kerry Condon Gary Stevens Tom Payne Jill Hennessy Nick Nolte Michael Gambon Opening theme "Splitting the Atom" by Massive Attack Country of origin United States Original language English No. of seasons 1 No. of episodes 9 Production Executive producers David Milch Michael Mann Carolyn Strauss Producer Dustin Hoffman Running time 47–67 minutes Production company HBO Entertainment Original release Network HBO

Genre: Crime drama, Serial drama, Psychological drama, Black comedy, Created by David Chase, Starring: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chianese, Steven Van Zandt, Tony Sirico, Robert Iler, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, with Opening theme: "Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix)" by Alabama 3, Country of origin: United States, Original language: English, No. of seasons: 6, No. of episodes: 86, Executive producers: David Chase, Brad Grey, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, Ilene S. Landress, Terence Winter, Matthew Weiner, Production locations: New Jersey, and Silvercup Studios, New York City, with Cinematography by Alik Sakharov, and Phil Abraham, with Editors: Sidney Wolinsky, William B. Stich, Conrad M. Gonzalez, Camera setup: Single camera, Running time: 43–75 minutes, Production companies: Chase Films, Brad Grey Television, and HBO Entertainment, Original network: HBO (1999-2007)

Deadwood, starring Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Jim Beaver, Brad Dourif, John Hawkes, Paula Malcomson, Leon Rippy, William Sanderson, Robin Weigert, W. Earl Brown, Dayton Callie, Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Kim Dickens, Anna Gunn, Jeffrey Jones, Sean Bridgers, Titus Welliver, Bree Seanna Wall, Josh Eriksson, Garret Dillahunt and Brent Sexton. Created by David Milch for Roscoe Productions, Red Board Productions, Paramount Network Television, and Home Box Office and distributed by Home Box Office. (2004-2006)

On March 14, 2012—only six weeks into its nine-episode first season—HBO canceled the series. The reason wasn’t ratings. It wasn’t creative disappointment. It wasn’t budgetary strain or critical apathy. It was death—three horses died during production. Animal safety concerns mounted into public controversy. HBO, despite having already greenlit a second season, pulled the plug in what it called a “mutual decision” with the producers. The first season aired to completion, and then Luck was over—its promising arc truncated, its characters abandoned midstream, its fate sealed not by fictional stakes, but by real-life consequences.

HBO Cancels ‘Luck’ Share Share on Facebook Post Share on X Share Share on LinkedIn Published March 14, 2012 by PETA Staff. Last Updated October 14, 2013. 3 min read UPDATE: Horses and people who care about them can rest a little easier tonight. HBO has announced that it is canceling Luck and ceasing all production on the series! Even before filming on Luck started, PETA contacted David Milch, Michael Mann, and others associated with the production to suggest ways to protect horses, including the use of stock racing footage instead of using live animals. After the first two horses died—and the producers began stonewalling—PETA revealed the deaths publicly and obtained information from whistleblowers as well as necropsy reports from the racing board, which led to the disclosure that older, arthritic horses had been used in dangerous (and deadly) racing sequences and that the horses appeared not to have been provided with adequate protection. Beyond keeping the horses’ plight in the public eye, PETA has also pressed law enforcement to investigate the deaths of the horses used on the set and to bring charges as appropriate. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to the whistleblowers who refused to let these horses’ deaths go unnoticed. If Milch, Mann, and HBO ever decide to start the series up again, PETA will again be calling on them to use stock footage, rather than putting horses’ lives at risk. Just one day after PETA sent a complaint to Los Angeles law enforcement urging the agency to investigate the deaths of two horses during the filming of the first season of HBO’s Luck, we have learned that another horse has died on the set. Insiders at Santa Anita Race Track, where the racing scenes are filmed, called us early Tuesday and tipped us off. Now HBO has confirmed it. But don’t expect HBO or executive producers David Milch and Michael Mann to come clean about who the horse was and what condition he was in. They refused to tell us anything about the first two horses, so with the help of caring whistleblowers, we unearthed the disturbing evidence ourselves: One horse was drugged, and the other was arthritic and hadn’t raced in years. Neither one should have been anywhere near a racetrack. Photo: tasweertaker | cc by 2.0 Drugs and Unfit Horses Both were retired racehorses who wouldn’t understand that when they went through the starting gate on a racetrack, it was just for a TV show and not a real race. Outlaw Yodeler was a 5-year-old thoroughbred who hadn’t raced in months and was apparently so sore that he was given a potent cocktail of muscle relaxant and anti-inflammatory and painkilling drugs, including Butorphanol, a painkiller so strong that it’s often used as an analgesic for horses undergoing some kinds of surgery. The other horse, whose name we believe is Marc’s Shadow, was 8 years old and arthritic and had not raced in nearly four years. Both horses were “raced” twice in one day—something even fit thoroughbreds would never be subjected to. Healthy racehorses need at least a week to recover from the stress of competition. Indeed, they aren’t even exercised twice in one day. Both horses on the set of Luck broke down after the second run. Their leg fractures were so violent that their bones shattered under the pressure. We think—and we hope law enforcement agrees—that the way in which the horses were treated by the production company, the trainer, and the veterinarian warrants a swift and thorough investigation before yet another horse dies. Human affection for horses unfortunately makes them popular subjects for the film industry. Horses may grab our attention, but these animals are not willing participants in the entertainment industry.

The following behind-the-scenes featurette shows the ambition that the series was meant to have from the first televison role for Dustin Hoffman, to the amazing cinematography of the horse racing filmed at Santa Anita Park, and directed by Michael Mann in the pilot episode. Take a ride with Luck down the track as this featurette shows what the series had hoped to be.