 |
 |
[03/27/09 - 06:24 PM]
Development Update: Friday, March 27
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!
BEN HUR (ABC, New!) - The Alphabet is set to team with Alchemy Television Group and Spain's Drimtim Entertainment for a new mini-series about the renegade hero in ancient Rome. William Wyler's 1959 film about the subject took home 11 Oscars, including Best Picture. Steve Shill ("Rome") will direct the $22.5 million production from a script by Alan Sharp ("Rob Roy"). Casting is underway on the project, which will begin filming in May in Spain, Morocco and Canada. David Wyler, William Wyler's son, is executive producing alongside Alchemy's Simon Vaughan and Drimtim's Roger Corbi. It's understood ABC plans to air the project as a limited series however no air date has been set.
EMPIRE STATE (ABC) - David Call is the latest addition to the drama pilot, "a contemporary Romeo-and-Juliet tale about the love between the blue-collar Sam (Mike Vogel) and the wealthy Annabelle (Beau Garrett) whose fathers are nemeses." He'll play the man's younger brother in the project, which comes from writer Michael Seitzman, director Jeremy Podeswa and ABC Studios.
MASTERWORK (FOX) - Aussie Matt Passmore and Brit Tom Ellis have both landed lead roles on the drama pilot, a thriller about a race against time to recover the world's most sought-after artifacts. They'll join the previously cast Natalie Dormer. Passmore will play an FBI agent specializing in the acquisition of stolen art who teams with Dormer's character, an MI-5 agent. Ellis then plays her fiance, a special agent at Scotland Yard. Paul T. Scheuring penned the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour, which Jeffrey Nachmanoff is directing.
NEW YORK GOES TO WORK (VH1, New!) - Tiffany "New York" Pollard is set to topline another series for the cable channel in which she undertakes various jobs suggested by text-messaging viewers. The series, from reality house 51 Minds Entertainment - home to previous Pollard efforts "I Love New York" and "Flavor of Love," will launch on Monday, May 4 at 10:00/9:00c. Here's the network's official description: "Each week America will choose from a list of three possible job opportunities and vote via their mobile phones by texting which job they would like to see Tiffany try. Will she be a Cal Trans sewer worker, a mortuary beautician, or a fast food employee? It will be up to you. And don�t think it will be easy for Tiffany. She�ll be worked, in all aspects of the job! Why again is she doing this? For the money of course. If she can impress her new employers, she�ll receive a $5,000 bonus each week. But, if she quits, fails, or gets fired, she�ll get absolutely nothing." Mark Cronin and Cris Abrego are the executive producers.
STATE OF ROMANCE (NBC) - Stephen Rannazzisi ("Big Day") has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about the "Pride & Prejudice"-esque relationship between Mike (Steve Howey) and Emily (Lindsey Broad). He'll play Mike's roommate in the project, which comes from Universal Media Studios and co-creators Barbara Wallace and Tom Wolfe.
VICTORIA SILVSTEDT: MY PERFECT LIFE (E!, New!) - The cable channel has acquired the rights to the rights to the U.K.-produced reality series, which tracks the life of the former Playboy Playmate of the Year. Set to roll out Thursday, April 2 at 8:00/7:00c, the project bowed on E!'s counterpart in the U.K. back in November.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
|
|
|
 [march 2009]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[11/03/26 - 03:57 PM]
Tami Roman Returns to Executive Produce and Star in Lifetime's Sequel to Its Highest-Rated Original Movie of 2026 - "Double Double Trouble 2" Set to Debut in 2027
Slated to premiere in 2027, Roman will reprise her role as identical twins Drea and Ali.
|
[11/03/26 - 03:01 PM]
USA Sports Delivers Most-Watched WNBA Playoff Game Ever; 3.3 Million Viewers Watch Valkyries Win Title in First-Ever Game 7
Viewership was up 128% vs. the 2025 WNBA Finals deciding game (LV-PHX Game 4).
|
[11/03/26 - 02:42 PM]
"College GameDay" Continues Historic Run Over Halloween at IU, ABC Takes Top Spot and Delivers Three of Top Five Most-Watched Games
ESPN topped all networks in Week 9, with ABC delivering three of the week's five most-watched games and winning the noon and afternoon windows.
|
[11/03/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of October 26 - "Lupin" Part 4 Captures the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
"The One About Matthew Perry" debuted in the No. 1 spot on the English TV list, gathering 9.5 million views.
|
[11/03/26 - 11:01 AM]
CBS Up +12% from Its Week #2 Last Year - Network Places 14 of the Top 20 Series; Top Two Comedies; Top Three New Series
CBS episodes topped the Nielsen live plus 7-days of multiplatform viewership for the week of October 12-18.
|
[11/03/26 - 10:31 AM]
Netflix Announces Straight-to-Series Order for Coming-of-Age Adaptation "Prep"
The coming-of-age story is about scholarship girl Lee Fiora's high school years at Ault, a prestigious New England boarding school, and her journey to navigate friendship, crushes and class as a fish out of water among her privileged, confident classmates.
|
[11/03/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "High Country" - Season 2 Official Trailer - Hulu
Nine months after closing the Artemis case, Detective Andie Whitford is drawn into a shocking double murder aboard a houseboat on drought-stricken Lake Eildon.
|
[11/03/26 - 08:31 AM]
Video: Mickey and Pluto Stir Up Holiday Mayhem with "Mickey's Home Alone" Trailer, Premiering Thanksgiving Day
The new holiday special premieres Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, at 6:00 p.m. EST/PST on Disney Jr. and streams the next day on Disney+.
|
[11/03/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "Rob Lowe: The Outsider" - Official Trailer - Netflix
This definitive documentary goes beyond the highlight reel to reveal what it really took for Rob Lowe to survive Hollywood - and become one of its most enduring stars.
|
[11/03/26 - 06:01 AM]
"Blue Eye Samurai" Unleashes Season 2 Release Date
Mizu's bloody quest for revenge will bring her to London on January 19, 2027.
|
[11/03/26 - 04:02 AM]
"Operation TAP": Netflix's First Film in Portugal Is Already in Production
The film is loosely based on the true story of the hijacking of a TAP flight in 1980, carried out by a 16-year-old boy with a head full of dreams.
|
[11/03/26 - 01:02 AM]
Video: Netflix Unveils the Official Teaser for "The Law of Beasts" - Kasper Bajon's Series Premieres November 18
Two friends, two perspectives, and a case that resurfaces after 25 years.
|
[11/03/26 - 01:01 AM]
"Chapapote", the New Film by Daniel Sanchez Arevalo and Starring Tamar Novas, Begins Filming
The year is 2002. The oil tanker Prestige breaks in two off the Galician coast, and an oil slick covers its beaches. All of them, that is, except one: the beach in the small town of Agarimo.
|
[11/02/26 - 06:21 PM]
Surprise! Korean Epic "The Remarried Empress" to Premiere One Day Early Exclusively on Disney+ and Hulu
Originally scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, November 4, "The Remarried Empress" will now debut on Tuesday, November 3 as a special thank you to fans for their overwhelming support.
|
[11/02/26 - 03:48 PM]
Video: Peacock Debuts Official Fall Sizzle for "Days of Our Lives"
Featuring drama, romance, mystery, and suspense, "Days" follows the lives, loves, and conflicts of the Horton, Brady, DiMera, Kiriakis, and Hernandez families and their many friends and colleagues.
|
|
|
|
