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[02/18/15 - 11:49 PM]
Development Update: Wednesday, February 18
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC) |
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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!
BLINDSPOT (NBC/WBT; W: Martin Gero; D: Mark Pellington) - Sullivan Stapleton ("Strike Back") is set as the male lead on the drama pilot, about Jane Doe (Jaimie Alexander), a beautiful woman, with no memories of her past, who is found naked in Times Square with her body fully covered in intricate tattoos. Her discovery sets off a vast and complex mystery that immediately ignites the attention of the FBI who begin to follow the road map on her body to reveal a larger conspiracy of crime while bringing her closer to discovering the truth about her identity. He'll play FBI special agent Kurt Weller, "the leader of an elite FBI unit." (Deadline.com)
DOUBT (CBS/CBSP; W: Joan Rater & Tony Phelan; D: TBA) - Dule Hill and Kobi Libii have both been cast in the drama pilot, about Sadie Barrow (yet to be cast), a smart, successful 30-something defense attorney who shockingly falls for one of her clients who may or may not be guilty of a brutal crime. The former will play Albert Cobb, "Sadie's law partner and close friend with a good sense of humor who is working with her on a very high-profile case, representing a member of a prominent New York family"; with Libii as Nick Fox, "a smart, ambitious and enterprising recent law school graduate who is determined to work with the best criminal defense attorney in New York." (Deadline.com)
FANTASY LIFE (FOX/20th; W: Tim McAuliffe; D: TBA) - Utkarsh Ambudkar ("The Mindy Project") is the latest to be cast in the Kevin Connolly-led comedy pilot, about Mitch, a hard-working guy who lands his ultimate dream job hosting a fantasy football show where he's forced to navigate office politics while becoming the star he never thought he could be. He'll play Max, "an outgoing and sometimes embarrassingly obsequious IT guy at Fox Sports who is a fantasy football buff and longtime fan of Mitch's." Vanessa Williams also stars. (Deadline.com)
GAME OF SILENCE (NBC/Sony; W: David Hudgins; D: Niels Arden Oplev) - Michael Raymond-James ("Once Upon a Time") and Larenz Tate ("Rush") are the latest to be cast in the drama pilot, about Jackson (David Lyons), a rising attorney on the brink of success who could lose his perfectly crafted life when his long lost childhood friends threaten to expose a dark secret from their violent past. Raymond-James will play Gil, "one of four childhood friends entangled in the conspiracy"; while Tate is on board as Tony, "the peacemaker of the group who hangs out with Gil and helps him with his petty crime schemes." (Deadline.com)
LIFE IN PIECES (CBS/20th; W: Justin Adler; D: Jason Winer) - Dianne Wiest and Zoe Lister-Jones have both snagged roles on the single-camera comedy pilot, about one family as told through the separate stories of its different family members. Wiest will plays the matriarch Joan Short, "who adores her family and would do absolutely anything for them - as long she agrees with it"; while Jones is set as Greg Short's (Colin Hanks) wife Jen, "a woman used to being in control who now has a baby and finds for the first time she's not." Betsy Brandt also stars. (Deadline.com)
LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD (NBC/20th; W: Diana Son; D: TBA) - Rockmond Dunbar ("The Mentalist") has scored a lead role on the drama pilot, in which race, sexuality and gender roles collide when three diverse couples put modern marriage to the test. He'll play Nick, "a charismatic and charming ad agency entrepreneur whose first marriage to Julie, the mother of two of his children, broke up over his affair with Fiona, now his wife. Nick and Fiona have an open marriage, and Fiona takes full advantage of their 'arrangement' - but through the years, Nick has always pined for Julie, the true love of his life." (Deadline.com)
MADOFF (ABC, New!) - Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl) is set to play Bernie Madoff in a new mini-series at the Alphabet, which "chronicles the rise and spectacular fall of the imprisoned swindler and the $65 billion Ponzi scheme he concocted." Ben Robbins penned the script based on Brian Ross's book "The Madoff Chronicles." ABC News' Lincoln Square Productions ("The Assets") is behind the project, with Linda Berman and Joe Pichirallo serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
STRANGE CALLS (NBC/20th; W: Blake McCormick; D: Jason Winer) - Patrick Brammall is set to reprise his role in the single-camera comedy pilot, an import of the Australian series of the same name about an affable but down on his luck young police officer who is transferred to a rural town where - with the help of a peculiar elderly night watchman - he starts to realize the town has a bizarre supernatural underbelly. He'll return as Lloyd, "a macho cop who made Sergeant at a young age, but is not quite as smart, tough or cool as he thinks he is." (Deadline.com)
TAXI-22 (CBS/CBSP; W: Tad Quill; D: TBA) - Lenny Venito, Sahr Ngaujah, Jennifer Esposito, Rebecca Creskoff, F. Murray Abraham and Christopher Nicholas Smith have all booked roles on the John Leguizamo-led pilot, an import of the French Canadian comedy about a politically incorrect NYC cab driver. Venito will play Dean, "Bobby's (Leguizamo) boss at the Yellow Cab Garage"; with Ngaujah as Valentine, "a Nigerian cab driver who shares a taxi as well as a love hate relationship with Bobby (Leguizamo) at Yellow Cab." The others are set in unspecified guest starring/recurring roles. (Deadline.com)
UNVEILED (NBC/Universal; W: John Sakmar & Kerry Lenhart; D: TBA) - Stephan James (Selma) is the first to be cast in the pilot, a drama following an ensemble of flawed guardian angels who intervene in the lives of those who find themselves facing crisis in an attempt to restore their faith and, often, save their lives. He'll play Daniel Shepard, "a rookie Guardian angel unfamiliar with human suffering, but striving to understand it. Overcome by a loving desire to help others, Daniel sometimes bends the rules for the greater good." (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Marisa Tomei has inked a one-year, first-look development deal at HBO (Deadline.com); Neil Marshall's Applebox Entertainment has signed a two-year overall deal with Legendary Television (Deadline.com); Katie Jacobs is shephereding "Dr. Del," an independently produced drama pilot starring John Hawkes (Deadline.com); Lloyd Braun's Whalerock Industries has extended his overall deal with MGM until 2017 (Deadline.com); Dick Van Dyke will guest on "The Middle" as Frankie's (Patricia Heaton) uncle, Dutch Spence, and the estranged brother of Tag (Jerry Van Dyke) (EW.com); and Doug Jones will visit "Arrow" as DC Comics villain Deathbolt (IGN.com).
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