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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!
ARRANGEMENT, THE (E!/UCP; W: Jonathan Abrahams; D: TBA) - Josh Henderson ("Dallas") has been tapped as the male lead on the drama pilot, a Cinderella story for modern times, with a dramatic and complicated Hollywood twist. The drama follows Megan Morrison, a beautiful young actress who auditions for the female lead in a summer blockbuster playing opposite Kyle West, the hottest actor of the moment. After an amazing audition segues into a dream-like first date, Megan's Cinderella story takes a turn to the bizarre when she is presented with a contract that details an entire relationship with Kyle. Megan must weigh her options and the benefits and consequences to her career and her life overall... and decide whether or not she will accept "The Arrangement." (EW.com)
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANACK (USA, New) - Jim Danger Gray and Miguel Sapochnik have scored a pilot order from the cable channel for a new drama which "weaves between modern day and a possible future where characters have changed radically and revolves around a cadre of heroes who emerge as the new Founding Fathers, after America is pushed to the brink of collapse." Legendary Television and Universal Cable Productions are behind the hour. (Deadline.com)
TRIAL, THE (Amazon; W: David E. Kelley & Jonathan Shapiro; D: David Semel) - Billy Bob Thornton ("Fargo") is set to topline the drama project, which "centers on Billy McBride (Thornton), a once respectable lawyer who was ousted from the high-profile firm he co-founded. Billy now spends his days getting drunk, with the occasional case tossed his way by his ex-wife. However, Billy is reinvigorated professionally when a young lawyer who has just been fired from his old firm brings him a wrongful death case that pits him against the head of his former firm." Said casting reportedly will trigger a series commitment from the distributor with David Semel directing the premiere. (THR.com)
UNTITLED EMMETT TILL PROJECT (HBO, New!) - Jay-Z and Will Smith are among auspices set to team for a mini-series at the pay channel "described as an immersive and in depth exploration of the Emmett Till story, about the black teen who was brutally murdered after allegedly flirting with a white woman in Mississippi in 1955." Jay Brown of Roc Nation, James Lassiter of Overbrook Entertainment and Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment are likewise on board to executive produce. The search is underway for a writer. (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - TNT has quietly renewed "Rizzoli & Isles" for a seventh season (@RizzoliIslesTNT); Ryan Newman is bound for "The Thundermans" as the new love interest to Max Thunderman (Jack Griffo) (Deadline.com); Neil Sandilands will recur on "The 100" as "an embodiment of the Old Guard, who works to preserve and protect his Grounder civilization and the fate of his people," while Michael Beach is set as "a tough and charismatic member of the Ark with a staunch moral code" (Deadline.com, EW.com);
Bradley Whitford, Aisha Hinds, Spencer Garrett, Todd Weeks and Mo McRae are all bound for HBO's "All the Way" as Hubert Humphrey, Fannie Lou Hamer, Walter Reuther, Walter Jenkins and Stokely Carmichael, respectively (Deadline.com); J.R. Bourne will drop by "Arrow" as DC Comics villain Double Down while Jeri Ryan will likewise guest as Queen family friend Jessica Danforth (AccessHollywood.com, TheWrap.com); and Naomi Campbell is slated to check into "American Horror Story: Hotel" for a multi-episode arc (TVLine.com).
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