Anthony Bourdain's New CNN Documentary Is All About Detroit [Updated]

Chef, author, and filmmaker Anthony Bourdain is producing a new documentary series on the history of Detroit in the 1960s for CNN, Variety reports. Tentatively titled Detroit 1963: Once a Great City, the four-part film is slated for release in 2018.

Bourdain previously teased a secretive upcoming project in Detroit during the promotion for his live tour “The Hunger” last fall. At the time, the Parts Unknown host said that the nonfiction work would focus on a “historical subject.”

In a brief synopsis, CNN describes the documentary series as focusing “on the history of Detroit, particularly at its high point.” The film, produced by Bourdain and Zero Point Zero Production co-founder Lydia Tenaglia, “will take viewers back to a time in America when people believed in the power and goodness of big corporations, had high hopes for racial parity, and looked to institutions like unions and the government to solve their problems.” Eater has reached out to Bourdain for comment.

Bourdain previously visited Detroit in 2013 while filming a controversial episode of Parts Unknown. Prior to that, the TV personality paid visits to the Family Donut Shop, Polonia Restaurant, Al-Ameer, and Cadieux Cafe during an episode of his Travel Channel series No Reservations. Stay tuned for updates.

Updated, 5/17, 2 p.m.: In a statement to Eater, Anthony Bourdain writes that his upcoming project “is based on David Maraniss' tremendous book of the same name, and was inspired by my longtime love and appreciation for a uniquely great city."

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