A Psychotic World We Live In
Syfy is getting into the dystopian trend, too, with its latest miniseries adaptation of Phillip K. Dick’s The Man In The High Castle. However, we can’t complain because Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files, Hunted) has signed a deal to write the script. Taking place in an alternate history where the Axis powers won World War II, writing the complicated storyline should be second nature to him.
FX has given a 13-episode order to its new pilot The Bridge, based on the Danish/Swedish series Bron. Starring Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) and Demián Bichir (A Better Life), the show will follow two detectives, from U.S. and Mexico, as they work together to track down a serial killer on the border. Yes, serial killers are still in. Filming begins in April for a July premiere.
Who’s Flying This Thing?
Anand Tucker (Leap Year) is set to direct ABC’s pilot Gothica, which seems reminiscent of this season’s failed series 666 Park Avenue in tone. A gothic soap combining the legends of Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray, the script is written by Matt Lopez (Race to Witch Mountain). I guess the network really wants to find a companion for Once Upon a Time.
One of Bravo’s first scripted pilots The Joneses will be directed by S.J. Clarkson (Dexter, Hunted). The script was written by Liz Tigelaar (Life Unexpected), based on the 2009 film that starred Demi Moore and David Duchovny as undercover salespeople. Clarkson’s gritty directing style combined with Tigelaar’s heartfelt writing style should be an interesting watch.
The CW pilot The Tomorrow People has found its director. Danny Cannon (Alcatraz) is set to direct the US version of the cult British hit about a group of teens with special powers, while Phil Klemmer (Veronica Mars) has written the script. Greg Berlanti (Arrow) and Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries) are big fans of the original and will exec produce this new adaptation. Can’t wait.
Old Faces, New Places
From one crazy show to another, The Nine Lives of Chloe King star Skyler Samuels has landed the lead role of Bird Benson in NBC’s Bloodlines. She’ll find herself caught between two warring families in a pilot that’s been described as Kill Bill in style. Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad) is already on board as her maternal grandfather.
After casting Emma Roberts (Scream 4) as the lead last week, FOX’s pilot Delirium just got a little bit bigger: Billy Campbell (The Killing) will go up against Roberts as Lena Holoway, a girl who falls in love when it’s now illegal. Based on the book series, Campbell is to star as the head of an organization who believes in modifying the brain to prevent this unruly and unwanted emotion.
Matthew Goode (Watchmen) is the first person cast for Showtime’s pilot The Vatican. He’ll play the pope’s closest friend and secretary in a thriller intersecting religion and politics within the modern-day Catholic Church. Art imitating life, I’m sure. Ridley Scott (Gladiator) will direct his first pilot with a script by Paul Attanasio (The Sum of All Fears).
Jennifer Beals (The Chicago Code) is returning to television in ABC’s Romeo & Juliet pilot, Venice. Set in the California city, the soap will focus on two households both alike in dignity, that is to say they have none as they struggle for control of Venice. Beals will play the mother of one of the families. McG is directing the pilot written by Byron Balasco (Without a Trace).
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Robert Downey Jr. has just brought the UK anthology series Black Mirror into U.S. awareness, thanks to his optioning of the episode “The Entire History of You” as a film. This version will follow a man with an implant that allows him to record his whole life and play it back, until he discovers a vast conspiracy surrounding his late wife. The original episode writer is set to adapt the script.