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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!
EXIT STRATEGY (FOX) - The Ethan Hawke-led drama, about CIA agents who are sent in to "fix" operations gone bad, has been ordered to pilot by the network. David Guggenheim penned the hour, to be directed by Antoine Fuqua. The pair are also executive producing alongside Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin and Roberto Orci for the 20th Century Fox Television-based K.O. Paper Products. Hawke, who plays "the team leader, the architect of exit strategy who also empathizes with the people they extract and would rather die than let them get hurt," will also receive a producing credit.
FLASHPOINT (CBS) - The Eye has reportedly acquired seven additional installments of the Canadian drama, bringing its upcoming total for this summer to 13 episodes. In addition, fledgling broadcast network ION has purchased the repeat rights to all 62 episodes commissioned to date. Said pact includes 11 episodes yet to be acquired by CBS. It's not clear when ION's run will begin.
GHOST ANGELES (NBC) - The Peacock has passed on the Rachel Bilson-led drama pilot, about "a young woman in Los Angeles who can talk to the dead, helping the spirits as much as they are helping her." Henry Alonso Myers and Josh Schwartz co-wrote the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, which was originally bought with a penalty attached should it not go to pilot. Leonard Goldstein and Stephanie Savage were also to executive produce.
I HATE THAT I LOVE YOU (NBC, New!) - Jhoni Marchinko ("Men in Trees") has booked a pilot order from the Peacock for a single-camera comedy "in which a straight couple introduces two of lesbian friends to one another, resulting in a pregnancy." Said half-hour is set up 20th Century Fox Television.
ICELAND (FOX, New!) - The network has greenlit a new comedy pilot about a woman whose spouse has recently passed away. Andy Bobrow ("Community") is behind the single-camera half-hour, which comes from Sony Pictures Television. No other details were given.
A MANN'S WORLD (A.K.A. UNTITLED MICHAEL PATRICK KING PROJECT) (NBC) - The Peacock has piloted its Michael Patrick King-penned drama, about "the complicated life of Allan Mann, a celebrity hair stylist in glamorous Los Angeles as he navigates the complexities of his business, his family life, and his goal to stay relevant in a world that moves quickly." King will also direct the effort, which is set up at Warner Bros. Television.
NO SECRETS (HBO, New!) - The pay channel has optioned Raffi Khatchadourian's The New Yorker profile of Julian Assange with an eye towards developing a film about the WikiLeaks founder. Said piece, "No Secrets: Julian Assange's Mission for Total Transparency," was "an in-depth look at Julian Assange and follows him and his WikiLeaks operatives as they prepare to leak a 38 minute classified video filmed from inside of the cockpit of an U.S. Army Apache Helicopter." Joshua Maurer and Alixandre Witlin of City Entertainment and David Stern of KippSter Entertainment are executive producing the project, which is in discussions with the BBC about co-producing.
ODD JOBS (NBC) - The potential Michael Emerson/Terry O'Quinn vehicle has been rolled to next season. Andre Nemec and Josh Appelbaum co-wrote the drama, which would feature the "Lost" alums as former special ops agents. Bryan Burk and J.J. Abrams were attached as executive producers alongside Nemec and Appelbaum for their Warner Bros. Television-based Bad Robot Productions.
PSYCH (USA) - Tagline Television, spearheaded by executive producer Kelly Kulchak, has inked a first-look deal with producer Universal Cable Productions. The pact gives the studio first crack at the company's cable output. On the broadcast side, Tagline recently landed a pilot order from ABC for Christopher Moynihan's "Man Up," about "a group of guys all at a different stages in their romantic relationships." Moynihan, via his two-script deal with ABC Studios, also has "The McLoughlins" in the works at ABC, about "a hard-working blue-collar family that moves into a privileged, upscale neighborhood to give their kids chance at a better life."
As for cable, Tagline has three projects in the works: Syfy's "Faerborne," from Andrew Robinson, about "a young Seattle businessman whose life is turned upside down when he learns that he is a 'changeling' - a fairy left to be raised by humans - and must be trained to fight goblins and other mythical creatures that live among us in disguise."; A&E's "Tropical Fox," from Steve Franks and Kell Cahoon, about "a brilliant British detective who goes rogue to track a wanted criminal in Hawaii and ends up forming an unlikely partnership with a local cop on the sleepy side of Oahu to aid the Honolulu Police Department."; and "Citizen's Arrest," from Jason Ward, about "a sixteen-year-old boy who acts out his dream of being a cop by using the Citizen's Arrest rule that allows him to make arrests when felony is involved to fight crime."
ROOKIES (CBS) - Richard Price's drama, about "six NYPD rookies struggling to balance their personal lives with the struggles of leaning their beat in Manhattan," has been greenlit to pilot. Price is executive producing the CBS Television Studios-based hour alongside Tribeca Films' Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal.
SMASH (A.K.A. UNTITLED BROADWAY MUSICAL PROJECT) (NBC) - The Showtime drama, from executive producers Steven Spielberg, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, has found a new home at the Peacock. Former Showtime-turned-incoming NBC chief Robert Greenblatt has ordered a pilot for the project, "a show-within-a-show vehicle about a group of people who come together to put on a Broadway musical." Michael Mayer ("American Idiot") in talks to direct from a script by Theresa Rebeck with music by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Universal Media Studios is also on board to produce with Rebeck; DreamWorks Television's Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey; and Storyline Entertainment's Zadan and Meron serving as executive producers.
TAGGED (FOX, New!) - David Guarascio and Moses Port ("Aliens in America") have likewise snagged a pilot commitment from the network for a new workplace comedy set at the L.A. County coroner's office. Sony Pictures Television and Reveille are co-producing the single-camera project, which is based on the life of Shiya Ribowsky, the former director of special projects at the New York City Medical Examiner's Office. Carolyn Bernstein, Howard T. Owens and Todd Cohen then are executive producing alongside the duo.
VINCE UNCENSORED (CBS, New!) - Phoef Sutton ("Terriers") has landed a pilot order from the Eye for a new comedy about a family man who experiences a medical problem and starts to speak the truth and live in the moment, much to the chagrin to his family. Warner Bros. Television is behind the multi-camera project, which Sutton will executive produce alongside Conaco's Conan O'Brien and David Kissinger.
WONDER WOMAN (NBC) - David E. Kelley's take on the DC Comics icon, "a vigilante crime fighter in L.A. but also a successful corporate executive and a modern woman trying to balance all of the elements of her extraordinary life," has finally found a home at the Peacock. Said hour, which is set up at Warner Bros. Television, made the rounds at the broadcast networks earlier this month. NBC initially passed, citing its lame duck status while they awaited the arrival of incoming topper Robert Greenblatt. With the executive now entrenched - not to mention a solid start for Kelly's "Harry's Law" - the Peacock subsequently has ordered the project to pilot.
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