 |
 |
[03/11/08 - 05:37 PM]
Development Update: March 10-11
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC) |
|
|
LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
Looking to keep track of all the various projects in development? Click here to visit our signature "Devwatch" section. There visitors can view our listings by network, genre, studio and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!
DRIVING AROUND WITH JONI (HBO, New!) - Jhoni Marchinko ("Men in Trees") has scored a pilot commitment from the pay channel for a new comedy about an eccentric, successful 40-year-old widow who spends her days driving around Los Angeles with her French bulldog, looking for meaning in her life after the sudden death of her husband. The project was originally set up at Warner Bros. Television where Marchinko had an overall deal prior to its termination during the WGA strike. Marchinko then will pen and executive produce "Joni" while Warner Bros. will still retain a piece of the show but not be creatively involved.
ELEVENTH HOUR (CBS) - Marley Shelton ("Grindhouse") has been tapped as the female lead in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama pilot, about Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell), a special science adviser to the government who - with his feisty female bodyguard Rachel Young (Shelton) in tow - saves people from the worst abuses of science. Ashley Jensen originated Shelton's role in the U.K. version. Danny Cannon is directing the hour from a script by Mick Davis with the pair executive producing alongside Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman for Granada International and Warner Bros. Television.
HARPER'S ISLAND (CBS, New!) - Feature writer Ari Schlossberg ("Hide and Seek") has booked a pilot presentation order from the Eye and CBS Paramount Network Television for a new horror-themed drama that unfolds during the course of a season as a group of friends meet on an island off the Seattle coast for a destination wedding. "Jericho's" Jon Turteltaub is on board to direct and executive produce alongside his Junction Entertainment partners Karim Zreik and Dan Shotz. The latter pair then will serve as co-executive producers, as will Schlossberg.
MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRL (CBS) - Josh Cooke ("Big Day") is set to star opposite Tim Peper in the multi-camera comedy pilot, about two best friends who own a bike shop and whose relationship becomes complicated when one (Peper) starts dating the ex-wife of the other (Cooke). Mike Sikowitz is behind the half-hour, which is set up at Sony Pictures Television.
THE SAINT (New!) - Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Jorge Zamacona, Bill Macdonald, Roger Moore and Geoffrey Moore are set to team to produce an independently financed two-hour TV movie/backdoor pilot based on Leslie Charteris's famed novels about debonair international thief Simon Templar. Zamacona and Macdonald previously set up the project at TNT last season (read the story) but it didn't move forward. The rights subsequently reverted back to them, after which Fontana and Levinson came aboard. Nehst Studios is behind the project while James Purefoy ("Rome") in talks to topline. Production then is set to begin next month with filming in Budapest, Hungary, New York and Puerto Rico. Since the 1997 feature starring Val Kilmer, both UPN (director John McTiernan and producer ATG in 2000) and ABC (writer Stephen Nathan and producer FremantleMedia North America in 2004) have taken stabs at developing a new small screen take.
UNTITLED NICK LACHEY PROJECT (MTV, New!) - Nick Lachey is developing a "Fame"-esque reality series set at his alma mater, the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati. The untitled project then would track its students, blending their performances with a narrative about what takes place in the school. Marc Platt and Russell Heldt are executive producing alongside Lachey.
WORST WEEK (CBS) - Erinn Hayes ("The Winner") has landed the female lead in the comedy pilot, about a guy named Sam (Kyle Bornheimer) and his rocky relationship with the parents of his fiancee (Hayes) during a family holiday. Her character, Melanie "Mel" Cook, is further detailed in the casting notice as follows: "30. Sam's fiancee. She's a beautiful, warm woman who is unaffectedly striking, even when she's not wearing any make-up. Currently in her first trimester of pregnancy, Mel is throwing up on a regular basis and just trying to soldier on until she's feeling better. Very attached to Sam, she's hoping that his visit for Dick's birthday will sweeten up her parents and set the stage for their announcement of Mel's pregnancy and engagement. However, Sam's surreal string of blunders, gaffes and boneheaded misfortunes make it very hard for Mel to convince her folks that Sam is indeed Mr. Right." Jay Malone also stars in the half-hour, which comes from Universal Media Studios and executive producers Jimmy Mulville, Marc Buckland and Matt Tarses.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
|
|
|
 [march 2008]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| | | | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[08/12/26 - 01:01 PM]
Video: "Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When Raygun's performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics went viral overnight, an avalanche of memes, misinformation, and conspiracy theories followed, all questioning how she reached the Olympic stage.
|
[08/12/26 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of August 3
"Sterling Point," "Ride or Die," "Off Campus," "Reacher," and "Elle" led all original series worldwide.
|
[08/12/26 - 11:01 AM]
Video: "The Perfect Lie" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When one of their own is killed in a house fire, four picture-perfect couples are forced to question everything they thought they knew about each other.
|
[08/12/26 - 11:01 AM]
FX's "The Lowdown" Season Two Premieres October 14 on FX and Hulu
New episodes of the eight-episode second season will be available each following Wednesday.
|
[08/12/26 - 10:01 AM]
Neal Huff, Gaby Hoffmann and Sky Yang Join Cast of "The Best of Us" (FKA "9/12") for Paramount+
"The Best of Us" dramatizes a landmark case that reshaped the fight for accountability: a relentless legal war that stretched nearly a decade to secure almost $1 billion in compensation for first responders who fell gravely ill in the wake of 9/11.
|
[08/12/26 - 10:01 AM]
NBC Uncloaks First-Ever All-Civilian Cast for Reality Competition Series "The Traitors: New Blood"
Emmy-winning host Alan Cumming is opening the doors to his now-infamous castle in the Scottish Highlands to 22 everyday Americans, hand-selected from a nationwide search resulting in over 80,000 hopeful applicants.
|
[08/12/26 - 09:31 AM]
Video: Peacock Debuts Season 2 Trailer and Key Art for Comedy Series "The Paper"
All 10 episodes will premiere September 9 on Peacock.
|
[08/12/26 - 09:01 AM]
"The Detour with David Chang" Premieres Sunday, September 20 at 9pm ET/PT
Produced by Majordomo Media and Tremolo Productions, the six-episode CNN series follows the acclaimed chef, restaurateur and author in his pursuit of no-frills but unforgettable eats on the open road.
|
[08/12/26 - 09:00 AM]
Meet the Cast of the 39th Season of "The Amazing Race"
Host Phil Keoghan kicks off the Race from Vancouver, Canada, where he immediately surprises the teams with the first twist of the season: for the first time in "The Amazing Race" history there are 13 Express Passes in play.
|
[08/12/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: MGM+ Debuts Official Trailer for "A Tale of Two Cities," Starring Kit Harington, Francois Civil and Mirren Mack
The limited series will premiere on Sunday, September 6, followed by a weekly release on MGM+.
|
[08/12/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "Prime Video Releases "Neagley" Official Trailer, Starring Maria Sten
Upon the "Reacher" season four finale, all eight episodes of Neagley will be released on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
|
[08/12/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Crew Girl" - Official Trailer - Netflix
New school, new rules, same dream.
|
[08/12/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Adults" - Season 2 Official Trailer - FX
FX's "Adults" is an ensemble comedy series about a group of twenty-somethings in New York trying to be good people, despite being neither "good" nor "people" yet.
|
[08/12/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: Apple TV Unveils Trailer for Season Five of Award-Winning Series "Stillwater"
Based on the bestselling Scholastic "Zen" book series by Jon J Muth, "Stillwater" follows a wise panda who teaches three young siblings about the world and each other.
|
[08/12/26 - 06:01 AM]
Video: "Animals" - Official Teaser - Netflix
Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, with Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, Gillian Anderson, Adriana Paz and Luis Gerardo Méndez, "Animals" is in select theaters and on Netflix October 9.
|
|
|
|
