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[Dan]

Whoa. Those are big moves.

Lazarus is a great comic and seems doable.

Snow Crash is a good book too, although I'm not sure about as an ongoing series. I wonder if Cornish will direct since he's been developing it as a feature for years.

 

[TheNatureBoy]

I remember reading Vol 1 of Lazarus a while back and enjoying it, would be interesting in seeing a TV series.

 

[Not]

- Amazon Developing ‘Ringworld', ‘Lazarus' & ‘Snow Crash' In Genre Series Push

FINALLY

So that's what happened to the Snow Crash movie

God I'm so excited. I hope it's great.

 

[KonradLaw]

Damn, all three are amazing IPs to turn into TV shows.

 

[Cornballer]

- ‘Good Omens’: Jon Hamm To Play Archangel Gabriel In Amazon Series

Mad Men alum Jon Hamm has joined the cast of Amazon Studios and BBC Two’s Good Omens as the archangel Gabriel, the primary messenger of God.

Based on Neil Gaiman’s (American Gods) and Terry Pratchett’s (Colour of Magic) novel and written by Gaiman, Good Omens takes place in 2018 when the Apocalypse is near and Final Judgment is set to descend upon humanity. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, and tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan — except a somewhat fussy angel, and a fast-living demon are not looking forward to the coming war, and someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.

 

[captjohnboyd]

- ‘Good Omens’: Jon Hamm To Play Archangel Gabriel In Amazon Series

Love it. He deserves good comedy scripts

 

[Cornballer]

- Amazon Developing Drama About 1980s Soaps Inspired By John Stamos’ Early Life

In a competitive situation, Amazon has landed for development a drama series project from John Stamos and producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Hairspray Live), which chronicles the fame and excess of daytime soaps in the 1980s. Universal TV, where Zadan and Meron are under a deal for series and live events, is the studio.

The untitled drama, originally set up at Uni TV a year ago, is inspired by the experiences of Stamos, whose acting career was launched in 1982 when, at the age of 18, he landed the role of Blackie Parrish on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital.

Written by Adam Stein (Damages), the drama is described as “Boogie Nights in the soap world.” It will explore the colorful and volatile world of daytime drama as it tracks the journey of an 18-year-old Orange County kid suddenly thrust into the limelight of Los Angeles in the early-80s, when he is anointed the Next Big Thing on America’s most popular soap.

 

[Cornballer]

- Dominic Monaghan Lands Lead in Police Procedural Miniseries 'Bite Club'

The eight-part show is being produced by Sony and Channel Nine Australia.
Dominic Monaghan will take the lead in Bite Club, a new miniseries from Sony Pictures TV and Channel Nine Australia.

The Lord of the Rings and Lost star – currently host of Travel Channel and BBC's Wild Things – will play a troubled police officer and dog handler in the eight-part drama, an unconventional police procedural, in which ex-lovers who survive a terrifying shark attack are thrown together by fate to hunt down murderers. Monaghan's character, Stephen Lamb, grew up in an abusive family, was chained to a dog and bitten as a child, and as a result has developed a serious psychosexual perversion that will play out across the series.

Production on the show, which will air on Channel Nine in Australia, started Monday.

That's...that's quite the logline.

 

[berzeli]

- Dominic Monaghan Lands Lead in Police Procedural Miniseries 'Bite Club' That's...that's quite the logline.

Holy shit. It just kept on going and going and going. When "shark attack" is just casually thrown in there and doesn't stick out you know it is something special brewing.

This is so on my list now.

 

[Cornballer]

- Idris Elba Sets 1980s Comedy ‘In The Long Run’ At Sky 1

Created by and featuring Idris Elba, comedy In The Long Run is loosely based on the award-winning actor’s own childhood. A Sky Original Production, it will also star Bill Bailey and air on Sky 1 and streaming service NOW TV. The series is written by Claire Downes, Ian Jarvis, Stuart Lane and Grace Ofori-Attah and is a co-production between Elba’s Green Door and Sprout Pictures.

A comedy about family and community, In The Long Run is set in 1985 London where the Easmons live amid the tower blocks. Life for Walter (Elba) and Evelyn Easmon is all about quiet routine. They arrived from Sierra Leone 13 years ago and are happy earning enough to pay the bills with a bit left over to send back home. Walter works hard alongside his mate and neighbor Bagpipes (Bailey) at the local factory while Evelyn patrols the estate selling make-up door-to-door. Their British born son Akuna and his best friend Scott hang out on the estate playing football and doing their best to dodge the local thugs.

But when Walter’s brother Valentine arrives to the UK, his energy and lust for life changes everything. He crashes into their lives bringing laughter and chaos and igniting a passion for music in Akuna.

 

[Cornballer]

- Hulu Developing ‘LA Woman’ Comedy Based On Eve Babitz Memoirs From Liz Tigelaar, Amy Pascal & Elizabeth Cantillon

Hulu has landed for development LA Woman, a single-camera comedy from Casual executive producer/showrunner Liz Tigelaar, director Lynn Shelton, and producers Amy Pascal and Elizabeth Cantillon. Sony TV’s TriStar Television is the studio.

Created, written and executive produced by Tigelaar, LA Woman is a coming-of-age comedy inspired by the memoirs of Eve Babitz, the reigning “it” girl of Los Angeles in the late 1960s and early 70s. Half West Coast wild child, half boho intellectual, and all bombshell, Eve described herself as a “stacked eighteen-year-old blonde on Sunset Boulevard… who is also a writer,” and surprised everyone by becoming one of LA’s enduring literary voices — most of all, herself.

The project is based on Babitz’s four books, Eve’s Hollywood; Slow Days, Fast Company; Sex and Rage; and LA Woman, which Cantillon and Pascal optioned in 2015 through TriStar TV.

 

[Cornballer]

- ‘Sweetbitter’ Half-Hour Drama Based On Book From Plan B Gets Starz Series Order

Starz has given a six-episode straight-to-series order to half-hour drama Sweetbitter, based on Stephanie Danler’s best-selling 2016 book of the same name.

The project had been on fast-track development at the premium cable channel since the summer. At the time, Starz ordered additional scripts and assembled a small writers room with an eye toward the potential series order.

Sweetbitter follows 22-year-old Tess who, shortly after arriving in New York City, lands a job at a celebrated downtown restaurant. Swiftly introduced to the world of drugs, alcohol, love, lust, dive bars, and fine dining, she learns to navigate the chaotically alluring, yet punishing life she has stumbled upon. It is a story of a young woman’s coming-of-age, set against the rich and grimy backdrop of exclusive restaurants, evoking the possibility, beauty, and fragility of being young and adrift.

Danler, who wrote the pilot script, Stu Zicherman (The Americans, The Affair) executive producer along with Plan B Entertainment. Donna Bloom will serve as producer on the six-episode freshman season. Laura Rosenthal is currently leading the ongoing casting search.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

- Dominic Monaghan Lands Lead in Police Procedural Miniseries 'Bite Club' That's...that's quite the logline.

Uh.

I'm in.

- ‘Sweetbitter’ Half-Hour Drama Based On Book From Plan B Gets Starz Series Order

Sounds a bit like Flesh and Bone, but in a restaurant.

 

[berzeli]

King Lear cast announced for BBC Two

Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson lead all-star ensemble cast. Richard Eyre to direct Shakespeare adaptation.
BBC Two, Golden Globe, BAFTA and RTS Award-winning drama producer Playground and Olivier and Tony Award-winning producer Sonia Friedman Productions announced that Anthony Hopkins (The Dresser, Nixon, Silence Of The Lambs) and Emma Thompson (The Children Act, The Remains Of The Day, Sense And Sensibility) reunite in their third collaboration and lead an all-star cast for their upcoming production of Shakespeare’s King Lear, adapted and directed by BAFTA and Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre (The Dresser, Notes On A Scandal). Principal photography begins this month.

The film for television is commissioned by the BBC and will premiere on BBC Two in the UK in 2018. Amazon Studios is co-producing and taking US and German rights.

BBC One announces major new World War Two drama World On Fire

BBC One has green lit World On Fire, a new landmark drama series by Peter Bowker, multi-award winning writer of BBC shows The A Word, Marvellous, Capital, Eric And Ernie and Occupation.
World On Fire is a heart-stopping, multi-stranded drama telling the story of World War Two through the lives of ordinary people from all sides of this global conflict. The first series of seven episodes tells the story of the first year of the war, starting with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and ending with the Battle of Britain. The drama will be produced by Mammoth Screen (Poldark, And Then There Were None, Parade’s End for the BBC).

The Trial Of Christine Keeler announced for BBC One

BBC One announces brand new six part drama commission from multi-award winning production company Ecosse Films. Written by award-winning novelist and screenwriter Amanda Coe (Apple Tree Yard, Room At The Top) the compelling drama takes a fresh look at one of the most infamous British stories: the chain of events in the 1960s which came to be known as the Profumo affair.
The Trial Of Christine Keeler takes us behind the headlines to tell a human story about the sexual and cultural politics of one of the most revealing and iconic stories of modern times. At the centre of the storm was 19-year-old Christine Keeler - a young woman whom the powerful, male-dominated establishment sought to silence and exploit, but who refused to play by their rules.

They also confirmed that Andrew Haigh (Lean On Pete, 45 Years, Weekend) will adapt and direct The North Water, based on the critically acclaimed novel from Ian McGuire for BBC Two

 

[Cornballer]

- Netflix Orders Black Superhero Family Drama ‘Raising Dion’ Co-Starring Michael B. Jordan From Charles D. King’s MACRO

Netflix has given a 10-episode straight-to-series order to hourlong sci-fi, family drama, Raising Dion, based on commercial and music video director Dennis Liu’s short film about an African-American single mother who discovers her young son has multiple, constantly changing abilities. The project comes from Liu, Creed star Michael B. Jordan, who will have a supporting role, veteran showrunner Carol Barbee (UnReal, Judging Amy), writer-producer Michael Green (American Gods, Logan) and Charles D. King’s MACRO (Fences).

Raising Dion, a Netflix production, follows the story of a woman named Nicole Reese, who raises her son Dion after the death of her husband Mark (Jordan). The normal dramas of raising a son as a single mom are amplified when Dion starts to manifest several magical, superhero-like abilities. Nicole must now keep her son’s gifts secret with the help of Mark’s best friend Pat, and protect Dion from antagonists out to exploit him while figuring out the origin of his abilities.

 

[Cornballer]

- Fox Buys ‘Adam & Eva’ Drama Based On Dutch Format From Marc Platt, Steven Levenson & Scripted World

Fox has given a script commitment plus penalty to Adam & Eva, a modern-day Adam and Eve drama based on the praised Dutch series, from Tony-winning playwright Steven Levenson (Masters of Sex), producer Marc Platt (La La Land), Scripted World and 20th Century Fox TV.

Written by Levenson, Adam & Eva follows Adam and Eva, two unique souls in New York City drawn together by fate. Both struggle with feelings of isolation heightened by living in a city with 8.5 million people.

The original Dutch series A’dam – E.V.A.(which also stands for “Amsterdam and many others”), from writer Robert Alberdingk Thijm and director Norbert ter Hall, ran for three seasons beginning in 2011. Described as 500 Days of Summer meets Tales of the City, A’dam – E.V.A. centers on Adam, a bright-eyed newcomer to Amsterdam, who leads a lonely life burying the forgotten dead for the city, but when he moves next door to the beautiful, cynical Eva, he realizes he’s met the love of his life. The series was recently chosen as best Dutch drama series since 1990 by a jury of leading journalists, industry members and media specialists of the Netherlands. The series also has been awarded the French Prix de la Fiction for best international series, the Dutch Directors Guild Award and the Best Screenplay Award from the Dutch Writers Guild.

 

[Cornballer]

- ‘Stargate’ Duo Team On Fantasy Adventure Series ‘The Outpost’

Dean Devlin’s Electric Entertainment (Stargate) and Arrowstorm Entertainment (Stargate SG-1) are teaming on The Outpost, a 10-episode hourlong fantasy adventure series set to begin shooting in Utah later this year. Casting is currently underway. Electric is handling worldwide sales.

Created by Arrowstorm’s Jason Faller and Kynan Griffin, The Outpost is the story of a strong female hero named Talon, the lone survivor of a race called Blackbloods, as she tracks the killers of her family to a lawless fortress on the edge of the civilized world. Along the way she discovers that she possesses a mysterious supernatural power that she must learn to control in order to save herself and defend the world against a fanatical religious dictatorship.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

King Lear cast announced for BBC Two


BBC One announces major new World War Two drama World On Fire


The Trial Of Christine Keeler announced for BBC One


They also confirmed that Andrew Haigh (Lean On Pete, 45 Years, Weekend) will adapt and direct The North Water, based on the critically acclaimed novel from Ian McGuire for BBC Two

All of those actually sound pretty interesting!

 

[berzeli]

So about that Amazing Stories reboot Bryan Fuller has been working on:
‘Amazing Stories' Reboot Nears Pickup At Apple

Apple is zeroing in on a reboot of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories as one of its first series in its foray into original programming under Jamie Erlicht & Zack Van Amburg, heads of the newly formed worldwide video programming division.

The tech giant is nearing a deal for a remake of the cult Spielberg-produced anthology series, which aired from 1985-87 series on NBC. The project was originally set up at NBC two years ago with Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller on board to write and executive produce for Spielberg's Amblin TV and Universal TV. Amblin TV's Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey executive produce the reboot alongside Fuller.

dammit apple, don't give me another platform to care about

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Cinemax Sets Cast & Director For Bruce Lee-Inspired Martial Arts Series 'Warrior'

The cast includes Andrew Koji as Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy who travels from China to San Francisco and ends up becoming a hatchet man for the most powerful tong in Chinatown; Olivia Cheng as Ah Toy, Chinatown’s most accomplished courtesan and madame; Jason Tobin as Young Jun, the hard-partying son of a powerful tong boss; Dianne Doan as Mai Ling, a beautiful and ruthless Chinese woman who, through sheer force of will, has achieved a position of power in one of the tongs; Kieran Bew as Officer “Big Bill” O’Hara, a hard-drinking Irish cop charged with forming a Chinatown squad; and Dean Jagger as Dan Leary, the unofficial godfather of the Irish community of San Francisco and leader of the Workingmen’s party.

Also cast are Joanna Vanderham as Penelope Blake, the aristocratic heir to a railroad fortune trapped in a loveless marriage to the mayor; Tom Weston-Jones as Richard Lee, a transplanted Southerner and rookie cop; Banshee and Outcast‘s Hoon Lee as Wang Chao, a wiley fixer and profiteer in Chinatown; Joe Taslim as Li Yong, a tong Lieutenant and kung fu master; Langley Kirkwood as Walter Buckley, a Civil War veteran and Deputy Mayor with his own political aspirations; Christian McKay as Mayor Samuel Blake, the Mayor of San Francisco; and Perry Yung as Father Jun, the leader of the most powerful tong in Chinatown.

Kary Antholis, president, HBO Miniseries and Cinemax Programming, called Warrior “one of the most exciting pilots I’d read in a very long time. It is perfectly on brand with what Cinemax wants to do going forward — high-end action-packed drama with great characters. It is unlike anything you’ve seen on episodic television ever.” Asked to elaborate, Antholis said that “the combination of a fun martial-arts show, which leans into Asian characters that are developed with great depth is a very unique combination in my experience with the TV landscape.”

Added Lin, “The martial arts genre a lot of times has been relegated to B-level action. And that’s not something we wanted to do. Going off of Bruce Lee’s original material, we wanted to build something that is character-driven, that has important themes and that also takes place in a part of American history that rarely gets talked about. That to me makes it something you haven’t seen before.”

Assaf Bernstein (Netflix’s Fauda) will direct the pilot. The 10-episode series, inspired by the writings and work of martial arts icon Bruce Lee, is slated to begin production on Oct. 22 in Cape Town, South Africa.

No premiere date for Warrior has been set, but it’s expected to launch in late 2018/early 2019.

So excited for this!

 

[G0523]

Kristin Chenoweth to Star in ABC's "The Real Fairy Godmother."

The premise sounds interesting but mainly because Chenoweth is attached to it.

 

[Dan]

Wyatt Cenac to Star in HBO Comedic Docuseries From John Oliver (Exclusive)

Wyatt Cenac is headed to HBO.

The actor, comedian and Daily Show alum has been tapped to star in a 10-episode comedic docuseries for the premium cable network.

Set to launch in the spring, the untitled half-hour series will be executive produced by John Oliver and will take a satirical look at social and cultural issues from Cenac's unique perspective. Rather than sit behind a desk, he will undertake a journey to understand some of the big issues of the moment and investigate real-world solutions.

Cenac, Ezra Edelman (O.J.: Made in America), Oliver (Last Week Tonight) and Hallie Haglund (The Daily Show) will exec produce the series, with the latter set to serve as head writer. Diane Fitzgerald (Last Week Tonight) will co-executive produce the series, which hails from Avalon Television (Last Week Tonight).

Cool.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Mark Ruffalo To Star In HBO Limited Drama Series

Written and directed by filmmaker Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), I Know This Much Is True is described as an epic family saga that explores the American identity following the parallel lives of twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Ruffalo will pull double duty, starring as both brothers.

Twins are all the rage these days!

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Showtime Nabs ‘Your Honor’ Legal Drama From Peter Moffat

CBS TV Studios’ high-profile legal thriller drama Your Honor has landed at sibling premium cable network Showtime with a series commitment.

The Scripted World-produced project, based on the hot Israeli drama format Your Honor (Kvodo) which won the Grand Prix at this year’s SeriesMania TV festival in Paris, has been shepherded by the creators of two acclaimed legal drama series: Peter Moffat, whose BAFTA-winning Criminal Justice was the basis for HBO’s Emmy-winning limited series The Night Of, and The Good Wife‘s Robert and Michelle King.

Written by British TV writer/playwright Moffat, Your Honor rips through all strata of Chicago society. It follows the son of a respected judge who is involved in a hit and run. Soon after they both are drawn into a high-stakes game of lies, deceit and impossible choices when it comes to light that the victim was the son of a notorious crime boss.