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[Wiktor]

Jeez SyFy..first they get Leviatham Wakes, now Old Man;s War? They really seem to be going all out in their effort to reclaim SF market.

 

[TheOddOne]

-Deadline: Spike TV Developing Modern ‘Count Of Monte Cristo’

Spike TV has put in development a project, described as re-inventing the Alexandre Dumas revenge classic The Count of Monte Cristo with a contemporary and high-octane action and political twist. It hails from Joshua D. Maurer’s City Entertainment (Rubicon). The project, based on countofmontecristoan idea by Maurer, is still in early stages, and it is unclear whether it would be developed as a miniseries or limited series.

Spike TV is making a return to scripted programming via longform, with the upcoming Tut event series as the first project under the initiative. Maurer is producing the Monte Cristo drama with producing partner Alixandre Witlin. The Count of Monte Cristo has been a popular target for modern-day interpretations. ABC drama Revenge started off as a female take on the novel set in current-day Hamptons.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

High Octane! Aww yiss! So kool!

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: Amazon Sets Release Date, Titles For Third Pilot Season

Amazon will debut its third pilot season August 28 on Amazon Instant Video in the US and the UK as well as Amazon’s instant video app . Once again, customers will be invited to give feedback. Amazon is making five pilots available: The Cosmopolitans, a romantic comedy set in Paris from Whit Stillman, with Adam Brody and Chloë Sevigny; Jay Chandrasekhar’s marriage comedy Really, with Sarah Chalke and Salma Blair; 1980s comedy Red Oaks, produced by Steven Soderbergh; Marc Forster’s vigilante drama Hand of God, toplined by Ron Perlman and Dana Delany; and Shaun Cassidy’s thriller Hysteria starring Mena Suvari.. “There is something for everyone in this season,” Amazon Studios director Roy Price said. Amazon Studios has several other comedy and drama pilots in various stages of production, Mad Dogs, Cocked, Point Of Honor, Salem Rogers: Model Of The Year 1998, Down Dog, The Outlaws, The Man In High Castle and Just Add Magic. Amazon’s most recent pilot season resulted in four series pickups, Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, Bosch, The After. Here are descriptions of the five pilots that will be released Aug. 28:

The Cosmopolitans

Written, directed and produced by Academy Award nominee Whit Stillman (Metropolitan, Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco), The Cosmopolitans follows a group of young American expatriates in contemporary Paris searching for love and friendship in a foreign city. The romantic comedy pilot stars Adam Brody as “Jimmy,” Chloë Sevigny as “Vicky,” Carrie MacLemore as “Aubrey,” Dree Hemingway as “Camille,” Freddy Åsblom as “Fritz,” Jordan Rountree as “Hal,” and Adriano Giannini as “Sandro.” The pilot was filmed on location in Paris.

Hand of God

Marking the television debut of renowned filmmaker Marc Forster (World War Z) and written by Ben Watkins, Hand of God stars Golden Globe winner Ron Perlman in his first lead television role since Sons of Anarchy as “Judge Pernell Harris.” Hand of God also stars Dana Delany as the Judge’s protective wife “Crystal Harris,” Garret Dillahunt as “KD,” the born-again sociopath whose violent tendencies are exploited by Pernell, Andre Royo as the slick, smart, gregarious, and greedy mayor “Robert ‘Bobo’ Boston,” Alona Tal as Pernell’s grieving daughter-in-law “Jocelyn Harris,” Julian Morris as the questionable preacher “Paul Curtis,” Elizabeth McLaughlin as the preacher’s sultry girlfriend “Alicia,” and Emayatzy Corinealdi as Pernell’s call girl and confidante “Tessie.” The show centers on the powerful Judge Harris, a hard-living, law-bending married man with a high-end call girl on the side, who suffers a mental breakdown and goes on a vigilante quest to find the rapist who tore his family apart. With no real evidence to go on, Pernell begins to rely on “visions” and “messages” he believes are being sent by God through Pernell’s ventilator-bound son. Forster, Watkins, Perlman, Brian Wilkins and Jeff King are Executive Producers, and Jillian Kugler is co-Executive Producer.

Hysteria

Hysteria takes viewers to Austin, Texas where social connection has become contagious. In the pilot, members of a girls’ competitive dance team are stricken with a strange, psycho-physiological illness that manifests itself in violent fits and spasms and then begins spreading in the community through technology. Neurologist Logan Harlen (played by Mena Suvari) returns to her hometown to investigate the cause. Fighting her own demons and the growing manipulation of a brother on death row, Logan develops an uneasy suspicion that the hysteria surrounding the girls might actually be linked to social media and her own tragic past. Hysteria is written by Shaun Cassidy, who is known for genre thrillers such as Invasion and American Gothic, and directed by Otto Bathurst, who won the BAFTA Award for his work on the critically-acclaimed U.K. mini-series Peaky Blinders. The show also stars James McDaniel (Orange Is The New Black) as “Carl Sapsi,” Josh Stewart (The Dark Knight Rises) as “Ray Ratajeck,” Adan Canto (X-Men: Days of Future Past) as “Matt Sanchez,” Laura San Giacomo (Saving Grace) as “Grace Pelayo” and T.R. Knight (Grey’s Anatomy) as “Carter Harlen.” The show is written by Cassidy, who is also Executive Producer alongside Adam Schroeder, Sharon Hall, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Bryan Zuriff, and Bathurst. In addition to Suvari, McDaniel, Stewart, Canto, San Giacomo and Knight, Hysteria also stars Ella Rae Peck and Jenessa Grant. Pilot guest stars include Jason Douglas, Heather Kafka, Asjha Cooper, and Evie Thompson. Amazon Studios is collaborating with Universal Television and Alcon Television Group on the production of Hysteria.

Really

Written, directed and starring Jay Chandrasekhar, Really is a funny, extremely, honest behind-the-curtain look at the complexities of marriage and the charged dynamics of a tight-knit group of friends. The show is about four hard-charging suburban Chicago couples trying to grasp on-to their dwindling youth. At the center are the happily but messily married couple “Jed,” played by Chandrasekhar, and “Lori,” played by Sarah Chalke. When Jed is faced with the choice of keeping his pal’s secret or destroying his friend group, he winds up digging himself into a very deep hole. Really explores marriage, friendship and the stifling peculiarities of suburban Chicago life. The pilot also stars Selma Blair, Travis Schuldt, Hayes MacArthur, Collette Wolfe, Luka Jones, Lindsay Sloane and Rob Delaney. Really comes from Main Street Films’ Craig Chang and Harrison Kordestani, and Executive Producer Jamie Tarses (Happy Endings).

Red Oaks

Directed by Sundance award-winner David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Eastbound and Down) and produced by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh (Behind the Candelabra), Red Oaks stars Craig Roberts (Submarine) as “David Myers,” an assistant tennis pro at the Red Oaks Country Club in suburban New Jersey in 1985, who is both reeling from his father’s heart attack and conflicted about what major to declare in the fall. While there, he meets a colorful cast of misfit co-workers and wealthy club members including an alluring art student named “Skye” (played by guest star Alexandra Socha) and her corporate raider father “Getty” played by Paul Reiser (Mad About You). A coming-of-age comedy set in the “go-go” 80s that is equal parts hijinks and heartfelt, Red Oaks is about enjoying a last hurrah before summer comes to an end—and the future begins. Red Oaks also stars Jennifer Grey (It’s Like, You Know) as “Judy Myers,” Richard Kind (Luck) as “Sam Myers,” Oliver Cooper (Californication) as “Wheeler,” Gage Golightly as “Karen,” and Ennis Esmer as “Nash.” Red Oaks is written by Gregory Jacobs (The Knick) and Joe Gangemi (Eliza Graves). Soderbergh, Green, Jacobs, and Gangemi are Executive Producers.

 

[TheOddOne]

Going to give them a chance.

 

[WarrenMax007]

Red Oaks is the most interesting one. And Adam Brody one looks good too.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Hand of God sounds loony in a good way.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Red Oaks and Hand of God sound interesting. I might also check out The Cosmopolitans for Chloë Sevigny (<3).

 

[beat]

http://eater.com/archives/2014/08/1...red-with-cnn-on-a-show-called-street-food.php

Kogi taco mixmaster/chef/Jon Favreau's BFF Roy Choi is currently filming a new show for CNN. This weekend, Choi — who just last week opened an impressive new restaurant in Los Angeles — broke the news on Twitter: "I got my own show&it's from the heart on the biggest platform down2the smallest detail. #CNN #StreetFood
thank YOU!" After telling the WSJ that they were in the process of partnering with "a protege of Anthony Bourdain," CNN confirms that Choi is on board with the network. A rep was tight-lipped: "I can confirm that a collaboration with Roy is in the works but we're not prepared to release details about the project." Based on several tweets, the show appears to be named Street Food. The theme seems like a natural fit for the man who popularized food truck culture.

Reps for Choi did not immediately respond with a comment. It's hard to tell, based on the teasing Choi and his friend Jon Favreau have been doing on Twitter if the show will be a tasting tour of street food or if it will be a cooking show starring Choi — or a combination of both. And exactly how Favreau is involved is also unclear.

 

[TheOddOne]

- Deadline: Howard Gordon & Richard Price To Adapt BBC’s ‘Inside Men’ As Drama Series For Fox 21

Richard Price (The Wire) is set to write a U.S. adaptation of BBC’s four-hour limited series Inside Men for Howard Gordon‘s 20th Century Fox TV-based Teakwood Lane. The project, a full-blown cable drama series, will be produced through 20th TV’s cable division Fox 21, which also is behind Teakwood Lane’s cable series Homeland, Tyrant and the upcoming Legends. BBC Worldwide Productions is co-producing. Based on the BBC limited series by Tony Basgallop, Inside Men is a multi-POV look at a robbery. (Watch a trailer for the original series below). Price is writing and will executive produce with Basgallop, Gordon, Hugh Fitzpatrick and Jane Tranter. The project will be developed internally and taken out later this year with one or more scripts written and a bible. “My expectation is that it will be phenomenal, this is as strong a project as any we have,” said Fox 21 President Bert Salke.

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s ‘One Percent’ Gets Series Order At Starz

Starz has given a straight-to-series order to The One Percent, an hourlong project from filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman) and MRC, which has Ed Helms set to star and Hilary Swank and Ed Harris poised to co-star. The order is for 10 episodes. MRC developed The One Percent internally and attached Helms, Swank and Harris before recently taking the project out to cable networks, garnering multiple offers.

The One Percent deal follows another recent MRC straight-to-series sale to Starz, a two-season pickup for a new live-action comedy from Seth MacFarlane. The One Percent follows a downtrodden farmer (Helms) as he struggles to hold onto his family and his farm, when a bizarre twist of fate becomes a life-changing secret that will either save them or ruin them. Helms will play the lead role of Alfred Murphy, who is struggling professionally and personally to keep the family business afloat. Swank is in final negotiations to play the role his wife, Laura Murphy. Harris will play the family patriarch, Nathaniel Cobb.

The One Percent was created and written by Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Nicolás Giacobone and Armando Bo. The quartet, who recently collaborated on Birdman, will serve as executive producers. Iñárritu will direct the first two episodes and set the visual style of the show. The series reunites MRC and Iñárritu, who worked together on the Academy Award-winning film, Babel.

 

[TheOddOne]

Oh wow, cool!

 

[Dan]

Ed Harris is going all in with TV.

 

[WarrenMax007]

Nice. It has potential to be very good.

 

[WarrenMax007]

- Holywood Reporter: 'Dexter's' Michael C. Hall to Star in Stanley Kubrick's 'God Fearing Man' Miniseries

Michael C. Hall is returning to the small screen.

Nearly a year after the Emmy nominee wrapped Showtime's Dexter after an eight-season run, Hall is set to star in Stanley Kubrick's unproduced drama God Fearing Man, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

God Fearing Man tells the true story of Canadian minister Herbert Emerson Wilson, who went on to become one of the best safecrackers and most successful American bank robbers in the early 20th century. Hall will star as Wilson and executive produce the drama, which was first put into development as a potential series at independent studio Entertainment One in August 2012. The project will be produced as a miniseries, with eOne shopping it to networks.

eOne is producing the drama in association with Philco Films' Steve Lanning (The Secret Garden, The World of Eddie Weary) and Philip Hobbs, who worked with Kubrick for more than 15 years on projects including Full Metal Jacket. Michael Rosenberg and Adam Blumberg will oversee on behalf of the studio. Bill Kelman will executive produce, with eOne handling worldwide rights to the series in all media.
"Kubrick&#8217;s God Fearing Man presents a larger-than-life story with a complicated protagonist who undergoes a radical transformation. We knew we had to secure a leading man with the immense talent and charisma needed to carry the project, and we were dedicated to putting in the diligent time and effort to find the perfect fit,&#8221; said Michael Rosenberg, eOne Television&#8217;s exec vp U.S. scripted television. &#8220;We cannot be more pleased to have Michael on board, who has time and again demonstrated an uncanny ability to portray captivating characters who must grapple with fundamental internal struggles.&#8221;

 

[RatskyWatsky]

- Deadline: Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s ‘One Percent’ Gets Series Order At Starz

A farming series on Starz. Okay. I'll watch this.

- Holywood Reporter: 'Dexter's' Michael C. Hall to Star in Stanley Kubrick's 'God Fearing Man' Miniseries

I want this.

 

[Cornballer]

- THR: WGN America Orders 'Titans' Straight to Series, Eyes Slave Drama

The Chicago-based network has given a straight-to-series order to hourlong drama Titans, from Rescue Me's Peter Tolan and Paul Giamatti, and is eyeing a series greenlight for Underground, a pre-Civil War slave drama project from A Beautiful Mind's Akiva Goldsman, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Both projects hail from Sony Pictures Television and Tribune Studios, and are expected to launch in 2015 though Underground — which has begun pre-production and has opened its writers' room — has yet to receive an official order.

Titans, with a 13-episode pickup, centers on the Farrell clan, a family of outsiders who have been in the hills of Appalachia since before anyone can remember. Living off the grid and above the law on their mountaintop homestead, they'll protect their world and defend their way of life using any means necessary. Playwright Peter Mattei is the creator and executive producer, alongside Tolan, Giamatti, Dan Carey and Michael Wimer.

Underground, from creator Misha Green (Sons of Anarchy) and Joe Pokaski (Heroes), follows the slaves who set foot on the fabled Underground Railroad, the secret network of men and women who risked their lives aiding them and the mercenaries tasked with hunting them down at any cost. Executive producers include Green, Pokaski, Goldsman, Tory Tunnell and Joby Harold.

“These projects, each exploring a world we find to be unique and fascinating, continue our aggressive expansion into original scripted programming,” said Matt Cherniss, president and general manager of WGN America and Tribune Studios. “Everyone at WGN America is pleased to enter this next phase of our growth with Sony Pictures Television as an important partner on these projects, along with such talented creators and producers.”

“WGN America has made a commitment to quality programming and we are happy that working together is a significant part of their growth strategy,” said Zack Van Amburg, president of programming and production for SPT. Added Jamie Erlicht, president of programming and production for SPT: “High-quality original series have consistently helped establish channel brands with the audience, and WGN appreciates and takes that value proposition seriously."

 

[TheOddOne]

WGA is going all out.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

- THR: WGN America Orders 'Titans' Straight to Series, Eyes Slave Drama

Both of those sound pretty promising.

 

[TheOddOne]

- Deadline: Rob Reiner & Andrew Lenchewski Sell Spy Drama Set In Yale’s Skull & Bones Society To USA

Rob Reiner is venturing into television with a period drama set at the most famous secret society in American college history. Reiner is set to direct the untitled thriller drama project, set in the late 1960s. Co-written by Aaron Tracy (Sequestered) and Royal Pains co-creator/executive producer Andrew Lenchewski, it centers on a Yale student with aspirations to be among the best and the brightest, who is recruited by the CIA to become a mole in the secret Skull and Bones society. He becomes caught between the two very powerful organizations. Reiner executive produces with his producing partner Alan Greisman, Lenchewski and Charlie Ebersol, with Tracy co-exec producing. Ebersol’s dad, former NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, attended Yale during the 1960s. Universal Cable Prods, where Lenchewski is under an overall deal, is producing.

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: Starz & BBC Team With Colin Callender For Drama Series Adaptation Of Thriller Novel ‘The Kills’

On the heels of its U.S. release last week to great reviews, Richard House’s political conspiracy thriller novel The Kills is headed to television as a drama series for Starz and the BBC produced by Colin Callender’s Playground. The Kills, which was optioned by Playground, centers on the global manhunt for a British mercenary who goes on the run after stealing $50 million from an American reconstruction project in Iraq. Search is underway for a writer to adapt the literary property, which has a rather unusual structure. The Kills, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013 and nominated for a Sky Arts Award, was originally published in the U.S. as four separate interconnecting books, while in the U.S. the quartet of books came out as a single volume. Book 1, titled Sutler, chronicles the manhunt at the center of the plot. Book 2, The Massive, is a prequel, and explains why the man was forced to go on the run. Book 4, The Hit, picks up where Book 1 left off in following the manhunt. In a twist, Book 3, The Kill, is a standalone novel about the murder of an American student in Italy. It is the novel that the characters in Book 1 are reading; in Book 2 it’s made into a film; and in Book 4 it’s used by one of the characters for sinister purposes. The project is being shepherded for Playground by Scott Huff, VP of Development and Production.

The Kills is Callender’s latest project at Starz where he has a deal. His previous three, limited/mini-series The White Queen, Dancing On The Edge and The Missing, also were co-productions with the BBC where Brit Callender has deep ties. Since its launch in 2012, Playground has produced five projects that have gone on the air, The White Queen, Dancing On The Edge, The Missing, series Dracula at NBC, and an adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall starring Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis at BBC and Masterpiece Theater. He also is developing Kenneth Lonergan’s mini-series adaptation of Howards End and Chris Hampton’s series adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons, both for the BBC.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

‘Childhood’s End’ Miniseries Nears Green Light At Syfy

Syfy is ordering to production Childhood’s End, a six-hour miniseries adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End from The Social Network producer Michael De Luca and Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind).

It follows a peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war and turns the planet into a near-utopia.

 

[TheOddOne]

Syfy tho. I need to see before I believe.

Spoiler

Sorry, Ivy.

- Deadline: Dan Sterling Comedy From Phil Lord, Chris Miller & 20th TV Lands At CBS With Put Pilot Commitment

EXCLUSIVE: In a very competitive situation, CBS has landed a multi-camera comedy from former Office executive producer Dan Sterling and The Lego Movie duo

of Phil Lord & Chris Miller Dan Sterlingwith a put pilot commitment — the first such commitment for a half-hour pitch this season. The untitled project hails from 20th Century Fox TV, where Lord and Miller have an overall deal. It is the first big sale for the studio since 20th TV chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman added oversight of sister network Fox. I hear that Walden and Newman, along with Lord and Miller, made the decision to take the pitch to ABC, CBS and NBC so they too can get in the Lord-Miller business as Fox already has the duo’s straight-to-series comedy Last Man On Earth. I hear all three networks bid, with CBS ultimately landing the show. The deal gets CBS and 20th TV back in business in a big way. After the end of How I Met Your Mother and the cancellations of The Crazy Ones and Friends With Better Lives, there is no 20th TV series on CBS for the first time in decades this season.

 

[TheOddOne]

- EW: 'Devil's Advocate' TV series in development at NBC

A legal drama based on a movie ,featuring the devil? Definitely sounds like a TV series pitch.

Warner Bros. TV is developing a prime-time version of the 1997 Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino film The Devil’s Advocate for NBC, EW has confirmed. The movie, based on a novel by Andrew Neiderman, starred Reeves as an ambitious young attorney hired by a law firm ruled by a particularly devilish senior partner (Pacino)—sort of like The Firm with Satan instead of a mob boss.

I remember liking the movie.

 

[TheOddOne]

HOLY SHIT WAT.

- Variety: Keanu Reeves to Star in Action TV Series ‘Rain’ from Slingshot Global Media

Slingshot Global Media announced Monday that Keanu Reeves will star in and executive produce its upcoming television series “Rain,” based on the best-selling novels from Barry Eisler.

Reeves will play John Rain, a half-Japanese, half-American contract assassin who struggles to find an identity beyond being a killer. It will be Reeves’ first starring and producing role in television, and Slingshot’s first announced project since the company formed in February.

“We are extremely excited to be working on a beloved property with such a talented and hard-working actor as Keanu,” said Slingshot CEO David Ellender. “This series will be the launch pad for the company and highlight our talent-focused, quality-based approach within the ever-changing and expanding television space.”

Slingshot will produce and distribute the series, with Eisler, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski serving as EPs with Reeves. Reeves will star in upcoming action thriller “John Wick,” directed by Stahelski and Leitch, in which he also plays a hitman.

“As a huge fan of Barry’s work, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to bring his iconic character and incredible world to life,” said Reeves. “I’m looking forward to partnering with Slingshot on my first series, and reteaming with Chad and David.”

 

[Clevinger]

Never heard of it. Those books any good?

 

[TheOddOne]

Never heard of it. Those books any good?

Never read those, but heard some were decent. Keanu Reeves in a TV show tho.

 

[WarrenMax007]

This show definetly needs to be on cable. FX or Cinemax would be perfect. Keany Reeves on TV.

 

[TheOddOne]

- Deadline: Fox Developing ‘No Ordinary Time’ Limited Series With Stephen Frears & Bob Cooper

Fox has put in development No Ordinary Time, a 10-hour limited series based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book chronicling President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s third term during World War II.

Stephen Frears (The Queen) is attached to direct the project, which will be written by Paul Webb (Selma). Landscape Entertainment’s Bob Cooper and Tyler Mitchell will executive produce with Alan J. Pakula‘s widow, writer Hannah Pakula, and Entertainment One Television. Alan Pakula, long a respected writer/director, was working on a feature adaptation of Goodwin’s 1995 book when he was killed in a car accident in 1998.

“It was nearly two decades ago that Alan Pakula acquired the rights to No Ordinary Time, shortly after the book was published, and it was the last project he was working on before his untimely death,” Goodwin said. “He loved this project — this era, the people, the drama – as do I, and I am so glad that it will now be brought to life through his wife Hannah Pakula and this remarkable circle of talented people.”

The Fox limited series will be a new take on the material, with no elements of Pakula’s adaptation. Cooper’s Landscape tracked down and acquired the book rights, setting up the project at eOne, where Landscape has a first-look deal. eOne and FX Prods. will produce the series, with eOne handling international distribution.

Sounds neat.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Lifetime Orders Glen Mazzara's 'Damien' Straight to Series

Lifetime has placed a six-episode, straight-to-series order for Glen Mazzara’s drama thriller Damien.

Produced by Fox Television Studios and based on Twentieth Century Fox’s classic horror film, The Omen, the series follows the adult life of Damien Thorn, the mysterious child from the 1976 motion picture who has grown up, seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him. Haunted by his past, Damien must now come to terms with his true destiny -- that he is the Antichrist, the most feared man throughout the ages.

 

[Clevinger]

HBO is making a TV series out of Shutter Island

Though Boardwalk Empire is coming to an end this year, it appears that Martin Scorsese will definitely be staying in business with HBO. He recently shot a pilot for a potential HBO series set in the 1970s rock and roll music scene of New York City, and now HBO is developing a TV adaptation of his film Shutter Island with Scorsese’s involvement. Titled Ashecliffe, the Shutter Island TV series will be written by novelist/screenwriter Dennis Lehane, and the plan is for Scorsese to also direct the pilot. Lehane penned the source material for Scorsese’s twisty 2010 psychological thriller, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. DiCaprio will also be involved in the Shutter Island TV series as an executive producer

Per Deadline, Paramount Television and HBO are making deals to turn Shutter Island into a TV show. The series is tentatively titled Ashecliffe, which is the name of the mental hospital that DiCaprio’s character investigates in the 1950s-set Shutter Island. The focus of the series will be on the past and history of Ashecliffe, beginning before the events of the film and revolving around “the secrets and misdeeds perpetrated by its founders who erected the hospital in the early 20th century and developed the methods of treatment used for the mentally ill.” Scorsese is onboard as an executive producer, with DiCaprio also executive producing through his Appian Way banner.

HBO is kinda losing me outside of the new David Simon miniseries and maybe True Detective.

 

[TheOddOne]

Could be good.

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: Zach Galifianakis & Louis C.K.’s Comedy ‘Baskets’ Gets FX Series Order

On the heels of his Emmy win on Monday for Louie, Louis C.K. is expanding his footprint on FX with a new series. The network has given a 10-episode order to Baskets, the comedy pilot starring Zach Galifianakis, and co-created by Galifianakis, Louis C.K. and Jonathan Krisel. Production will begin next year for a 2016 launch. Galifianakis penned the pilot episode along with Louis C.K., and Kriesel (Portlandia, Saturday Night Live, Man Seeking Woman), who is the Baskets’ showrunner, and also directed the pilot. Blair Breard, Dave Becky, Marc Gurvitz, and Andrea Pett-Joseph are Executive Producers.

In a world constrained by corporate interests and the homogenization of society, one man in Bakersfield, California dares to follow his dream of becoming a professional clown. But after an unsuccessful enrollment at a prestigious clowning school in Paris, the only job he can find is with the local rodeo. Baskets follows Chip Baskets’ (Galifianakis) pursuit of his dream, against all odds, to be a respected clown.

“Zach Galifianakis, Louis C.K. and Jonathan Krisel have created an absolutely brilliant show,” said Schrier. “To say Zach’s portrayal of the lead character Chip Baskets is hilarious/unique/riveting/fascinating would be an understatement. We can’t wait for the world to meet him.”

Baskets is the fifth comedy series ordered by FX Networks this year along with The Tracy Morgan Project (FXX), The Comedians (FX), Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll (FX), and Man Seeking Woman (FXX), boosting the FX Networks comedy roster to 11 series across FX and FXX.

 

[TheOddOne]

Was just going to post that! SOUNDS GOOOOOOOOD.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Sounds good, but 2016 is so far away!

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Netflix Gets Into French Originals Business With ‘Marseille’

Netflix said today that it will premiere Marseille, an eight-episode tale of power, corruption and redemption in the French port city, late next year in all territories.

Created and written by Dan Franck and produced by Federation Entertainment, it centers on Robert Taro, the 25-year mayor of Marseille who will face in the coming elections the man he chose as his heir. The ambitious youngster is aiming high, and both candidates will fight mercilessly as they deal with drug lords, politicians, unions and the city’s political players.

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: ‘The Greatest American Hero’ Gets Fox Remake With Phil Lord & Chris Miller

A Steven J. Cannell cult classic is getting a reboot at Fox. The network has given a put pilot commitment to The Greatest American Hero, a new take on the 1981 sci-fi dramedy, which is being shepherded by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, directors of the successful feature franchise based on another classic TV series by Cannell, 21 Jump Street. Lord and Miller will executive produce the hourlong action comedy alongside Cannell’s daughter, television director Tawnia McKiernan. Written/exec produced by Rodney Rothman and produced by 20th TV, the new Greatest American Hero will chronicle inner-city teacher Isaac’s adventures after his discovery of a superhero suit which gives him superhuman abilities. Unfortunately for Isaac, he hates wearing the suit, and has to learn how to use its powers by trial and error because he quickly misplaces the suit’s instructions. He also has to deal with a government handler who has very different objectives than him and struggles as to whether he should use his newfound gifts to help others or just himself. The original series, created by TV legend Cannell and starring William Katt and Robert Culp, aired for two seasons on ABC.

 

[TheOddOne]

Anything from Phil Lord & Chris Miller is worth a look. Excite.

 

[TheOddOne]

- Variety: South Korea’s Studio Mir Inks Multi-Series Deal With DreamWorks Animation

SEOUL — Korean animation firm, Studio Mir has forged a 4-year contract with DreamWorks Animation spanning four animated TV series.

Each series is expected to be a 78-episode 2-D show.

Significantly, the two companies are set to co-develop and co-produce. Details of the financing and ultimate distribution were not disclosed.

“The contract between DreamWorks and Studio Mir is a landmark in that it is a partnership of equals,” said Yoo Jae-myung, founder and CEO of Mir.

The company is known in the U.S. for its “Legend of Korra,” which plays on Nickelodeon and was pitched to fans at last month’s Comic-Con.

Korean companies have often been sub-contractors on international TV shows and animated films – a large portion of the animation of “The Simpsons” is handled by Korean firms including Anivision and AKOM – but they have rarely been full co-producers or co-owners of the IP.

“This contract is a solid opportunity for the entire Korean animation industry to create a better workforce and infrastructure in the field of animation,” said Yoo.

I wonder what kind of projects they have running.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Lars Von Trier Prepping English-Language TV Series

A “huge” international cast will star in The House That Jack Built with von Trier to start working on the script this fall for a 2016 shoot. Plot details are being kept close to the vest, but exec producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen said the series will be “without precedent” and cautioned, “You better hold your breath.”

Von trier previously toiled in TV with Danish fantasy/horror mini The Kingdom in 1994.

 

[TheOddOne]

- Deadline: NBC Nabs Bryan Cranston-Produced ‘The Dangerous Book For Boys’ Comedy

On the heels of his double Emmy win for Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston has made his first major TV sale as a producer — single-camera comedy The Dangerous Book For Boys. In a very competitive situation, the project based on Conn and Hal Iggulden’s guidebook has landed at NBC with a significant penalty. Superbad director Greg Mottola is writing and directing the adaptation for Sony Pictures TV and Cranston’s Moon Shot Entertainment production banner, which has a first-look deal at the studio.

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: Jennifer Carpenter To Topline USA Pilot ‘Stanistan’

Dexter alumna Jennifer Carpenter will lead the cast of USA’s hourlong pilot Stanistan, which follows the staff at the American compound in the Middle Eastern country of Stanistan, where State Department workers, covert CIA officers and journalists strike a delicate balance of danger and levity. Carpenter will play Public Affairs Officer Marcie Post, daughter of a well-respected diplomat and the newly appointed spin-master for all U.S. government activity in the country.

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: Syfy Greenlights ‘Childhood’s End’ Miniseries

As we scooped last night, Syfy has greenlighted Childhood’s End, a six-hour miniseries based on Arthur C. Clarke’s classic to premiere in 2015. Akiva Goldsman and Mike De Luca executive produce the mini, written by Matthew Graham, creator of BBC’s Life on Mar sand to be directed by Nick Hurran, a 2014 Emmy nominee for Sherlock: His Last Vow. Universal Cable Prods. is the studio. Praised since its publishing in 1953, Childhood’s End follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious “Overlords,” whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture. “The powerful themes of Childhood’s End, from the fearsome price of peace and prosperity, to the very question of what constitutes a human being, remain fascinating and timeless,” said Syfy president Dave Howe, calling the mini “the most ambitious project for Syfy in many years.” Additional behind the scene credits include 2014 Emmy Award winners Neville Kidd (Director of Photography) and Yan Miles (Editor), both for their work in Sherlock: His Last Vow.

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

- Deadline: Jennifer Carpenter To Topline USA Pilot ‘Stanistan’

Stanistan is the title? Hahahahahahahaha I read over that synopsis five or six rimes trying to decipher it was a comedy or not.

 

[TheOddOne]

- Deadline: Robert & Michelle King Ink New Overall Deal With CBS Studios, Sell D.C. Horror Show To CBS As Put Pilot

On the heels of a very well received fifth season of The Good Wife and a second Emmy win for star Julianna Margulies, the CBS series’ co-creators Robert and Michelle King have signed a new three-year deal with CBS TV Studios to continue as executive producers and showrunners and develop new project through their King Size Prods.

They have already sold one, Brain Dead, with a put pilot commitment. Written by Robert and Michelle King, it re-teames the auspices of The Good Wife: creators, the Kings; producers, CBS TV Studios and Scott Free, and network, CBS. Described as The West Wing meets The Strain, Brain Dead represents a major creative swing. It is a comedic horror hourlong show set in the world of D.C. politics. The Kings, repped by Paradigm and Jon Moonves, are executive producing with Scott Free’s Ridley Scott and David Zucker.

Wat.

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: HBO Developing Drama Starring Patricia Clarkson

HBO has put in development Elisabeth, an hourlong romantic drama that has Patricia Clarkson attached to star and executive produce. The series, set in the world of international politics, hails from Canadian filmmaker Ruba Nadda and Alan Poul. Nadda will write the script, direct the potential pilot and will executive produce alongside Clarkson and Poul. This marks the third collaboration between Clarkson and Nadda. The CAA-repped actress previously starred in Nadda’s Cairo Time, which won the award for Best Canadian Film at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival, and in Nadda’s latest movie, October Gale, set to premiere at this year’s TIFF. Elisabeth also reunites Clarkson with HBO and Poul — she had a recurring role on the network’s acclaimed drama Six Feet Under, which Poul executive produced. WME-repped Poul has a long history at HBO where he also has worked as a director/producer on Rome, Big Love and, most recently, The Newsroom. Nadda is repped by Gersh, Untitled Entertainment and by Del, Shaw, Moonves.

 

[Wiktor]

I love that SyFy when trying to get back to SF didn't just make a show or two. Instead it looks like they're throwing every resource they have into this category again

I wish they would make Blood and Chrome or new Stargate though

 

[TheOddOne]

- Bleeding Cool: DC Entertainment Actively Pitching A Supergirl TV Series, With Michael Green?

Michael Green is a producer on TV shows including Gotham, American Gods, Smallville, and Heroes, writer on Smallville, Heroes, Gotham, and films such as Green Lantern and the upcoming Flash.

So, you know, he has form.

He also worked with Mike Johnson on the New 52 reboot of Supergirl.

Well, we understand Green is now taking that a little further.

Bleeding Cool has been reliably informed by a comics/Hollywood contact that DC Comics is currently actively pitching Supergirl as a TV series, and Green is attached.

Writing/producing of course. Not actually playing Supergirl. Although, you know….

Well, with Flash, Constantine and Gotham whizzing around, might as well get a little Superness on the screen as well, I guess.

There has been plenty of press about neither Marvel and DC giving any female character a solo movie or TV show of late. But now Marvel have a Jessica Jones Netflix mini-series planned. Could DC Comics be the ones to make it ongoing? And a Supercharacter to boot?

Will anyone bite?

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Carrie Underwood Song ‘Two Black Cadillacs’ To Be Developed As Fox Event Series Produced By Jerry Bruckheimer

Fox is revving up Two Black Cadillacs, a six-hour limited event series based on the hit Carrie Underwood song.

Written by Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Josh Kear, “Two Black Cadillacs” was a platinum single from Underwood’s 2012 album Blown Away. In it, a wife and a mistress realize they are involved with the same guy and conspire to kill him.

Okay!

NBC Developing LIVE Hotel Comedy

NBC has put in development Hospitality, a multi-camera comedy, which would air live every week, including live commercials during the breaks.

Hospitality is set in a midtown Manhattan hotel and focuses on the hospitality staff.

How very 1950s!

 

[beat]

NBC Developing LIVE Hotel Comedy



How very 1950s!

Way to not mention Roc, Deadline.