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[01/29/14 - 11:57 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, January 29
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!


COSMOPOLITAN (Amazon, New!) - Oscar-nominee Whit Stillman (Metropolitan) is developing a potential comedy at Amazon Studios, which "chronicles the loves and adventures of a group of young expatriates in Paris." Stillman penned the script and is attached to direct. (Deadline.com)


EXTANT (CBS/CTS; W: Mickey Fisher; D: TBA) - Goran Visnjic ("Red Widow") and Michael O'Neill ("Rectify") have both landed roles on the upcoming summer drama, a mystery thriller about Molly (Halle Berry), a female astronaut trying to reconnect with her family when she returns after a year in outer space. The former will play Molly's husband John Watts with the latter as Alvin Sparks, "a former astronaut who now is the director of the privatized space program." Camryn Manheim, Hiroyuki Sanada and Pierce Gagnon also star. (Deadline.com)


HAND OF GOD (Amazon, New!) - Actor Ron Perlman ("Sons of Anarchy"), writer Ben Watkins ("Burn Notice") and director Marc Forster (World War Z) are set to team for a new drama pilot at the digital distributor about "the powerful Judge Harris Pernell (Perlman), a hard-living, law-bending married man with a high-end call girl on the side who has a religious awakening and starts having visions and hearing voices through his ventilator-bound son that could be God speaking to him." Jillian Kugler and Brian Wilkins of KLWGN are also on board to executive produce the hour, the pilot for which is tentatively slated to begin filming in March. (Deadline.com)


HYSTERIA (Amazon, New!) - Shaun Cassidy ("Blue Bloods") has set up a potential drama at Amazon Studios about "a doctor who travels to her hometown of Houston to investigate an epidemic among high school girls that may be spreading through technology." Alcon Entertainment is producing. (Deadline.com)


IDENTITY (UNTITLED CORINNE BRINKERHOFF PROJECT) (The CW/CTS; W: Corinne Brinkerhoff; D: TBA) - The Corinne Brinkerhoff-penned drama - about "a young Brooklynite recruited by the CIA to infiltrate her recently discovered biological family, a wealthy and powerful dynasty in Texas suspected of having criminal alliances across the globe" - has been given a pilot order by the netlet. CBS Television Studios is behind the hour, which is based on the Israeli feature script "Dance of the Hours" by Orna Raiz. K.O. Paper Products' Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin and Roberto Orci as well as Scripted World's Rob Golenberg and Alon Aranya are also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)


IZOMBIE (The CW/Warner Bros.; W: Diane Ruggiero & Rob Thomas; D: TBA) - The netlet's small screen take on Chris Roberson and Michael Allred's Vertigo comic book has been ordered to pilot. Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero penned the adaptation - "a supernatural crime procedural that centers on a med student-turned-zombie who takes a job in the coroner's office to gain access to the brains she must reluctantly eat to maintain her humanity, but with each brain she consumes, she inherits the corpse's memories" - for Warner Bros. Television and will executive produce via the former's Rob Thomas Productions. (Deadline.com)


JANE THE VIRGIN (The CW/CTS; W: Jennie Snyder Urman; D: TBA) - Jennie Snyder Urman's import of the Venezuelan telenovela - about "a hardworking religious girl who, due to a series of outrageous events, is accidentally artificially inseminated" - has likewise scored a pilot commitment from the netlet. Said effort is set up at CBS Television Studios with Electus' Ben Silverman as well as Gary Pearl and Jorge Granier among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)


MADAM SECRETARY (CBS/CTS; W: Barbara Hall; D: TBA) - Tea Leoni ("The Naked Truth") has been tapped for the title role on the drama pilot, about "the personal and professional life of a maverick female Secretary of State (Leoni) as she drives international diplomacy, wrangles office politics and balances a complex family life." Barbara Hall is behind the hour with Morgan Freeman, Lori McCreary and Tracy Mercer also among the executive producers. (Deadline.com)


MORE TIME WITH FAMILY (CBS/20th; W: Cathy Yuspa & Josh Goldsmith & Tom Papa; D: TBA) - The Tom Papa-led comedy - about "a husband and father (Papa) making a career change to spend more time with his family" - has scored a pilot commitment from the Eye. Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith co-wrote the multi-camera project, with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Dave Becky and Josh Lieberman also attached as executive producers. (Deadline.com)


PUBLIC MORALS (TNT; W/D: Ed Burns) - Patrick Murney is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about New York City's Public Morals Division circa 1967, where cops walk the line between morality and criminality as the temptations that come from dealing with all kinds of vice can get the better of them. He's set as Petey "Mac" Mackenna, "a young and hip Irish cop." Austin Stowell, Ed Burns, Elizabeth Masucci, Keith Nobbs, Lyndon Smith, Michael Rapaport, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Wass Stevens also star. (Deadline.com)


SEA OF FIRE (ABC/Sony; W: Jenna Bans; D: Allison Liddi-Brown) - Jennifer Carpenter ("Dexter") has been tapped as the female lead on the drama pilot, about "a disappearance, a murder and host of other secrets boiling under the surface in a small town." She'll play Leah Pierce, "a driven FBI agent brought in to investigate the disappearance." In addition, Allison Liddi-Brown has signed on to direct the project, from Mandeville Films and Television, Scripted World and VARA. (Deadline.com)


WINKLERS (UNTITLED WINKLERS PROJECT) (ABC/20th; W: Max Winkler, Phil Rosenthal & Rob Reinis; D: Phil Rosenthal) - The multi-camera comedy - about "an emotionally reserved construction worker who learns about love, life and hugs while unexpectedly living with his in-laws - Henry (Henry Winkler, who's on track to star) and Stacey Winkler" - has been greenlit to produce a pilot by the Alphabet. Max Winkler, Winkler's son, and Rob Reinis, Winkler's son-in-law co-created the half-hour alongside Phil Rosenthal who's likewise expected to direct. 20th Century Fox Television is behind the project with The Walcott Co.'s Jake Johnson also serving as an executive producer. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - The CW has given its upcoming "Supernatural" backdoor pilot the moniker of "Supernatural: Tribes" (Deadline.com); "Surviving Jack" co-creators Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker have signed a two-year overall deal with producer Warner Bros. Television (Deadline.com); "Modern Family" executive producer Danny Zuker has likewise inked a three-year pact with 20th Century Fox Television (Deadline.com); Lori Petty will visit "Orange Is the New Black" in a yet-to-be-revealed role (TVLine.com); Gene Simmons will cameo as himself on an upcoming episode of "CSI" (THR.com); Jeremy Davies and Chris Diamantopoulos are both bound for the new season of "Hannibal" (TVGuide.com); and Heather Graham and Ellen Burstyn have closed deals to return for "Petals on the Wind," Lifetime's sequel to "Flowers in the Attic" (EW.com).






  [january 2014]  
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· BLUE BLOODS (CBS)
· BURN NOTICE (USA)
· COSMOPOLITANS, THE (AMAZON)
· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
· EXTANT (CBS)
· FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC (LIFETIME)
· HAND OF GOD (AMAZON)
· HANNIBAL (NBC)
· HYSTERIA (AMAZON)
· IDENTITY (CW)
· IZOMBIE (CW)
· JANE THE VIRGIN (CW)
· MADAM SECRETARY (CBS)
· MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
· MORE TIME WITH FAMILY (CBS)
· ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (NETFLIX)
· PETALS ON THE WIND (LIFETIME)
· PUBLIC MORALS (TNT)
· RECTIFY (SUNDANCE)
· RED WIDOW (ABC)
· SEA OF FIRE (ABC)
· SONS OF ANARCHY (FX)
· SUPERNATURAL (CW)
· SUPERNATURAL: BLOODLINES (CW)
· SURVIVING JACK (FOX)
· WINKLERS, THE (ABC)





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