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[12/09/14 - 11:10 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, December 9
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!


BILLIONS (Showtime; W: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Brian Koppelman & David Levien; D: Neil Burger) - David Costabile ("Suits") has been cast in the drama pilot, which takes a forensic look at the world of high finance by tracking the approaching collision between two titanic figures - the hard charging, whip-smart U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhodes (Paul Giamatti), and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king, Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Damian Lewis). He will play Mike "Wags" Wagner, "Chief Operating Officer for the hedge run by Bobby and is his right hand man." Maggie Siff also stars. (Deadline.com)


COCAINE COWBOYS (TNT/WHT; W: Michelle Ashford; D: Mark Pellington) - Christopher McDonald ("Boardwalk Empire") has been tapped for a role on the pilot, a drama set in the wild and unpredictable world of the Florida drug trade in the 1970s. He'll play Corwin Barre, "father of LuAnne (Kristen Hager) and owner of a fishing supply empire who lives with his wife in an affluent community and moves among Miami's social elite." Michael Stahl-David, Matt Barr, Elizabeth Perkins, Dan Buran, Kelsey Siepser, Adria Arjona and Oscar Jaenada also star. (Deadline.com)


FALL OF GIANTS (ABC, New!) - Ken Follett's Century Trilogy - "a dramatic tale of love and war told through the lives of five families that become entangled by the first World War" - is being developed as a 10-hour limited series at the Alphabet. Ann Peacock ("The Dovekeepers") is on board to pen the script and executive produce alongside Michael De Luca and Stephanie Germain for Sony Pictures Television. (THR.com)


HAPPYISH (Showtime; W: Shalom Auslander; D: John Cameron Mitchell) - Carrie Preston, Andre Royo and Molly Price have all landed roles on the drama pilot, about Thom Payne (Steve Coogan), a 44 year-old man whose world is thrown into disarray when his 25 year-old "wunderkind" boss arrives, saying things like "digital," "social" and "viral." Preston will play Debbie Dubonte, "a Senior Account Director at MGT who could be the mother of her two new bosses, and must, like Thom Payne, find a way to reinvent herself or lose her job"; with Price and Royo as husband and wife Barry and Bella, "a former corporate lawyer who followed his heart to the Family Court, only to find it even more depressing than Corporate Law was" and "a divorced mother still struggling to find the best place for herself and her child," respectively. Ellen Barkin, Kathryn Hahn and Bradley Whitford also star. (Deadline.com)


PROFESSIONALS (Showtime, New!) - Writer David J. Rosen ("I Just Want My Pants Back") and director Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man) are set to team for a new comedy at the pay channel about "two partially-broken mid-level employees who become ensnared in a dangerous game of corporate espionage." Said duo will also executive produce the half-hour, which also has an order for two scripts beyond the pilot. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Tomorrow Studios is developing a TV series based on Swedish authors Jerker Eriksson and Håkan Sundquist's "The Crow Girl" trilogy (Deadline.com); Simon Templeman and Kevin Pollak are both set to drop by "House of Lies" this season (THR.com); Mark Moses, Brian F. O'Byrne and Nick Court are among the faces bound for "The Last Ship" this summer (Deadline.com); "Ground Floor" showrunner Jeff Astrof has inked an overall deal with producer Warner Bros. Television (Deadline.com); Olivia Munn has inked a first-look producing deal with CBS Television Studios (Deadline.com); and Dreama Walker will guest on "Law & Order: SVU" as a detective attending "a law enforcement conference in New York" (EOnline.com).






  [december 2014]  
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· BILLIONS (SHOWTIME)
· BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)
· COCAINE COWBOYS (TNT)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DOVEKEEPERS, THE (CBS)
· FALL OF GIANTS (ABC)
· GROUND FLOOR (TBS)
· HAPPYISH (SHOWTIME)
· HOUSE OF LIES (SHOWTIME)
· I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK (MTV)
· LAST SHIP, THE (TNT)
· LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT (NBC)
· PROFESSIONALS (SHOWTIME)
· SUITS (USA)





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