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[09/19/13 - 11:26 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, September 19
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!


GHOST PROJEKT (NBC) - Joe Harris and Steve Rolston's graphic novel from Oni Press - about a female KGB agent and male American weapons inspector form an unlikely partnership when a deadly force is unwittingly unleashed from a Siberian research facility - is once again being developed as a drama, this time at the Peacock. John Glenn (Eagle Eye) and André Øvredal (Troll Hunter) are spearheading the new adaptation for Universal Television with Glenn and Closed on Mondays Entertainment's Eric Gitter executive producing. Øvredal is likewise attached to direct and serve as a co-executive producer alongside Noah Greenshner with Joe Nozemack and James Lucas Jones producing. Brett Matthews was behind the previous effort at Syfy in 2011. (Deadline.com)


HINDSIGHT (VH1, New!) - Emily Fox ("Jane by Design") has snagged a pilot order from the cable channel for a new drama about Becca, a woman approaching 40 on the verge of her second marriage who wakes up on her wedding day only to discover that it's 15 years in the past and she's about to marry her first husband and still close with her ultimately estranged best friend. Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman of Timberman-Beverly Productions also serve as executive producers on the hour, originally developed at NBC, as do Maggie Malina and VH1's Susan Levison and Jill Holmes. (Deadline.com)


LOVE IS DEAD (USA/GIT/UCP; W: Zev Borow; D: Lorene Scafaria) - Janina Gavankar and Khary Payton are the latest additions to the comedy pilot, about a unique company that specializes in breaking-up romantic relationships - rationally, compassionately, thoroughly - on behalf of those who are willing to pay to not be around when it happens. Gavankar will play Marisol Rajagopal, "an icy confident and stunningly sexy professional termination associate at the Dunleavy Agency who doesn't believe people need love to be happy and in fact thinks that they might be better off without it"; with Payton as Doubting Thomas, "a former college All-American wide receiver who, after suffering a severe injury, becomes a professional relationship termination associate for the Dunleavy Agency." Ben Rappaport also stars. (Deadline.com)


THE ROYALS (E!/Lionsgate; W: Mark Schwahn; D: TBA) - Tom Austen ("Jo") has scored a role on the drama pilot, a contemporary family ensemble steeped in all of the regal opulence of the British Monarchy and framed by Shakespeare's "Hamlet." He's on board as Jasper, "the new security detail/love interest to Princess Eleanor (yet to be cast)." Elizabeth Hurley and William Moseley also star. (Deadline.com)


TRUST (ABC, New!) - Katie Lovejoy (NBC's "Dracula") is spearheading a domestic take on the Colombian telenovela "Pura Sangre," about David Montenegro, "a humble attorney in Miami who is given the chance to become the Trustee of the Lagos estate. David takes the job to try and rekindle a romance with his first and only love, Rosella Lagos - who is now engaged to another man - but before long, he finds himself sucked into her dysfunctional family and discovers that, in a world of so much money, the only true currency is trust." Said effort is set up at Universal Television with UnbeliEVAble Entertainment's Eva Longoria and Ben Spector as well as BermanBraun's Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein executive producing alongside Lovejoy. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED LEE DANIELS/DANNY STRONG PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Writer Danny Strong and director Lee Daniels (The Butler) are set to re-team with a potential series at the network described as "a unique family drama set in the world of a hip hop empire." The project, from the 20th Century Fox Television-based Imagine Television, has a put pilot commitment. Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo then will executive produce alongside Strong and Daniels. (Deadline.com)


YOU'RE THE WORST (FX/FX Productions; W: Stephen Falk; D: Jordan Vogt-Roberts) - Chris Geere, Aya Cash, Kether Donohue and Desmin Borges have booked the principal roles on the comedy pilot, about Jimmy (Geere), "a completely self-absorbed, proudly outspoken, and utterly insensitive writer living in L.A. who is deeply unsettled when he finds himself developing feelings for a recent one night stand, Gretchen (Cash), a cynical and self-destructive beauty." Donohue then is set as Gretchen's best friend Lindsay, "the beta to Gretchen's alpha, Lindsay is married and trying her hardest to be a proper adult-type lady"; with Borges as Edgar, "Jimmy's sweet and earnest childhood friend/roommate who is a war veteran suffering from PTSD and mild battlefield-induced psychosis." Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) is directing from a script by Falk. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - HBO has passed on its Benjamin Walker-led Cold War spy drama pilot "The Missionary" from Charles Randolph and Malcolm Gladwell (Deadline.com); Vincent Martella is bound for "The Walking Dead" as "one of the new people who Carl gets a little closer with" at the prison (EW.com); Beth Riesgraf will guest on ABC's "Killer Women" as "an interior decorator with a secret sideline" (TVLine.com); Stephen Macht, father to "Suits" leading man Gabriel Macht, will guest on the series as "a longtime Harvard Law prof who is notorious for his high standards and rigid ways" (TVLine.com);

Stacy Keach, Dean Stockwell and Barry Bostwick will visit FOX's "Enlisted" as "three Army veterans who come back to Ft. McGee to attend a funeral" whose relationship bears an uncanny resemblance to the show's lead trio (TVLine.com); Cynthia Nixon, Amy Sedaris, Wanda Sykes and Julie White are all slated to guest on Amazon's new comedy "Alpha House" (THR.com); Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade will make a cameo on Disney Channel's "Austin & Ally" (THR.com); and Thomas Arana will recur on at least three episodes of CBS's "Intelligence" as the Director of National Intelligence (THR.com).






  [september 2013]  
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· ALPHA HOUSE (AMAZON)
· AUSTIN & ALLY (DISNEY)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DRACULA (NBC)
· EMPIRE (FOX)
· ENLISTED (FOX)
· GHOST PROJEKT (NBC)
· HINDSIGHT (VH1)
· INTELLIGENCE (CBS)
· JANE BY DESIGN (ABC FAMILY)
· KILLER WOMEN (ABC)
· LOVE IS DEAD (USA)
· MISSIONARY, THE (HBO)
· ROYALS, THE (E)
· SUITS (USA)
· TRUST (ABC)
· WALKING DEAD, THE (AMC)
· YOU'RE THE WORST (FXX)





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