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[02/23/16 - 11:33 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, February 23
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!


24: LEGACY (FOX/20th; W: Evan Katz & Manny Coto; D: Stephen Hopkins) - Teddy Sears ("The Flash") has scored a role in the drama pilot, which will revolve around military hero Eric Carter's (Corey Hawkins) return to the U.S. and the trouble that follows him back - compelling him to ask CTU for help in saving his life, and stopping what potentially could be one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil. He'll play Keith Mullins, "Rebecca's (Miranda Otto) former second in command, ambitious and driven, who has replaced Rebecca as the head of CTU." (Deadline.com)


COLONY (The CW/CTS; W: Doris Egan; D: TBA) - Mouzam Makkar, Carl Beukes and Tongayi Chirisa are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, a thriller which follows a team of explorers who arrive on Mars to join the first human colony on the planet, only to discover that their predecessors have vanished. They'll play Chandra Devi, Richard Santos and Neil Cormack, "part of the team of explorers sent to join the Mars colony." (Deadline.com)


CRUEL INTENTIONS (NBC/Sony; W: Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin & Roger Kumble; D: Roger Kumble) - Taylor John Smith and Samantha Logan are the first to sign onto the drama pilot, a small screen revival of the 1999 cult feature. He'll play Bash Casey, the son of Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe) and Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), who is introduced to a world of sex, money, power and corruption he never could have imagined after discovering his late father's legacy in a hidden journal. Logan then plays Cassidy, "the spoiled daughter of Kathryn's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) husband Pascal." (Deadline.com)


I LOVE DICK (Amazon; W: Sarah Gubbins; D: Jill Soloway) - Kathryn Hahn ("Transparent") is set to topline the comedy pilot, a small screen take on Chris Kraus's 1997 novel, about a struggling married couple, Chris and Sylvere, and their mutual obsession with an off-putting but charismatic professor, Dick. She'll play the aforementioned Chris in the project, which charts the unraveling of a marriage, the awakening of an artist and the reluctant deification of a man named Dick. (Deadline.com)


IMAGINARY FRIEND (ABC/Sony; W: Adam F. Goldberg, David Guarascio & Patrick Osborne; D: Shawn Levy) - Jenna Elfman ("Growing Up Fisher") is set as the lead role in the comedy pilot, about Alice (Elfman), a thirtysomething bachelorette whose life is turned upside-down when she finally meets the love of her life - a divorced father (Stephen Schneider) with three kids; this triggers even more upheaval when the slightly unhinged imaginary friend she created as an only child suddenly reappears in her life to help her navigate the transition from single girl to a woman ready for a family. (Deadline.com)


JEAN-CLAUDE VAN JOHNSON (Amazon, New!) - Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, writer Dave Callaham and director Peter Atencio are set to team for a new drama at the streaming service starring Van Damme as a version of himself - "a famous actor and martial-arts pro who comes out of retirement to resume his alter-ego: an undercover private contractor by the name of Jean-Claude Van Johnson." Production is being eyed to start in mid-May in Los Angeles on the pilot. Scott Free Productions' Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker also serve as executive producers. (THR.com)


JURY, THE (ABC/ABCS/Sony; W: Mark Bianculli & V.J. Boyd; D: Neil Burger) - Brandon Jay McLaren and Ben Esler are the latest additions to the drama pilot, which follows a single murder trial a season as seen through the eyes of the individual jurors, exploring the biases and experiences that influence the jurors' judgment, and how their preconceptions change along the way. McLaren will play Jared, "a juror with a dark past and penchant for speaking his mind"; with Esler as Ernest, "an awkwardly mild-mannered professional." (Deadline.com)


LAST TYCOON, THE (Amazon/TriStar; W/D: Billy Ray) - Kerry O'Malley and Annika Marks have both landed roles on the drama pilot, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's final unfinished novel inspired by the life of film mogul Irving Thalberg, about Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer), Hollywood's first wunderkind studio executive in the 1930s as he climbs to the height of power pitting him against his mentor and current head of the studio Pat Brady (Kelsey Grammer), a character based on Louis B. Mayer. O'Malley will play Kay Maloney, "a writer on the Brady-American studio lot"; while Marks is set as Bernadette Davis, "Declan Davis' (Ryan O'Nan) loving wife." (Deadline.com)


MIDNIGHT, TEXAS (NBC/Universal; W: Monica Owusu-Breen; D: Niels Arden Oplev) - Sarah Ramos ("Parenthood") has booked a lead role on the drama pilot, a small screen take on the three-book series by Charlaine Harris, about Midnight, Texas, where the real world and the supernatural collide in a dangerous, sexy, place full of dark secrets and mysterious people. She'll play Creek, "a girl next door beauty who works two jobs - a waitress at the local restaurant and working the counter at the Gas and Go convenience store her dad owns." (Deadline.com)


PITCH (FOX/20th; W: Dan Fogelman & Rick Singer; D: Paris Barclay) - Mo McRae, Meagan Holder and Tim Jo are the latest to be cast in the drama pilot, about Ginny Baker (Kylie Bunbury), a young female pitcher who defies the odds when she becomes the first woman to play in the major leagues as part of the San Diego Padres. McRae will play Blip, "an All-Star outfielder, who's as fleet of mouth as he is of foot"; with Holder as Evelyne, "Blip's wife and an old friend of Ginny's"; and Jo as Eliot, "an awkward but social media-savvy manager brought on to Ginny's team to run her online presence now that she's exploded as a celebrity." (Deadline.com)


POWERLESS (NBC/WBT; W: Ben Queen; D: Michael Patrick Jann) - Christina Kirk, Danny Pudi and Alan Tudyk have all booked roles on the single-camera comedy pilot, set at one of the worst insurance companies in America - with the twist being that it also takes place in the universe of DC Comics. Pudi will play Teddy, "Emily's (Vanessa Hudgens) best friend at work and her trusted confidante"; with Tudyk is Del, "Emily's new boss in the claims department"; and Kirk as Jackie, "a fan of Super Heroes who has plastered her office cubicle with beefcake shots of super guys." (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Adam Davidson has signed on to direct FOX's drama pilot "Recon" (Deadline.com); Jean de Segonzac will helm the episode of "Chicago PD" which will serve as the backdoor pilot to "Chicago Law" (Deadline.com); Colt Prattes has been cast as Johnny Castle in ABC's "Dirty Dancing" revival (Deadline.com); Jessalyn Wanlim will recur on "Orphan Black" as "a spokesperson advocating research for women's health" (Deadline.com);

Michelle Hurd has signed onto "Ash vs. Evil Dead" as "the high school sweetheart of the title character" (Deadline.com); Demi Moore is attached to star in "10 Days in the Valley," a proposed drama series from Tassie Cameron (Deadline.com); Ken Jeong will guest on "Fresh Off the Boat" as "the fraternal twin brother of Louis (Randall Park) who arrives in town to personally invite Louis and Jessica (Constance Wu) to his wedding" (Deadline.com); and Rya Kihlstedt is bound for "Once Upon a Time" in an episode that "will flash back an uncharted period in Emma Swan's past" (TVLine.com).






  [february 2016]  
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· 24: LEGACY (FOX)
· ASH VS EVIL DEAD (STARZ)
· CHICAGO JUSTICE (NBC)
· CHICAGO PD (NBC)
· COLONY (CW)
· CRUEL INTENTIONS (NBC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DIRTY DANCING (ABC)
· FLASH, THE (CW)
· FRESH OFF THE BOAT (ABC)
· GROWING UP FISHER (NBC)
· I LOVE DICK (AMAZON)
· IMAGINARY MARY (ABC)
· JEAN-CLAUDE VAN JOHNSON (AMAZON)
· JURY, THE (ABC)
· LAST TYCOON, THE (AMAZON)
· MIDNIGHT, TEXAS (NBC)
· ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC)
· ORPHAN BLACK (BBC AMERICA)
· PARENTHOOD (NBC)
· PITCH (FOX)
· POWERLESS (NBC)
· RECON (FOX)
· TRANSPARENT (AMAZON)





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