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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!
AFTER (Freeform, New!) - Tom Lynch, Adam Lash and Cori Uchida are set to team for a small screen take on Rhiannon Thomas's 2015 debut novel "A Wicked Thing," which reimagines "Sleeping Beauty" and what happens after happily ever. "In it, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince one hundred years after falling asleep to find her family long dead and her kingdom taken from her. She must transform into a warrior to regain it." Robin Schwartz also serves as an executive producer for the Tom Lynch Co. and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. (Deadline.com)
APB (FOX/20th; W: David Slack; D: Len Wiseman) - Justin Kirk and Eric Winter have both signed onto the drama pilot, about when a tech billionaire purchases a troubled police precinct in the wake of a loved one's murder, but can this eccentric and enigmatic figure's cutting edge approach fix the broken ways of these blue blooded veterans? Kirk will play said billionaire, Gideon Reed, with Winter as Sergeant Tom Murphy, "a vice cop, a tough guy with a big heart and a family man. He is married to homicide detective Amelia Murphy (Natalie Martinez), with whom he has two children." (Deadline.com)
BUNKER HILL (CBS/Universal; W: Jason Katims; D: David Semel) - Odette Annable ("The Astronaut Wives Club") has booked a lead role on the drama pilot, about James Bell (Augustus Prew), a young Silicon Valley tech titan, who enlists Walter Wallace (Dermot Mulroney), a veteran surgeon with a controversial past, in starting a hospital with a cutting-edge, new school approach to medicine. She'll play Zoe (aka Alex), "a forthright, idealistic physician at Bunker Hill, and a positive life force." (Deadline.com)
CHAD: AN AMERICAN BOY (FOX/20th; W: Nasim Pedrad & Rob Rosell; D: Jason Winer) - Matthew Mindler (Our Idiot Brother) has scored a role on the single-camera comedy pilot, about a 14 year old boy (Nasim Pedrad) in the throes of adolescence who is tasked with being the man of the house, which leaves him with all the responsibilities of being an adult without any of the perks. He'll play Peter, "Chad's best - make that only - friend, an aloof, pubescent, oddly content kid." (Deadline.com)
CHICAGO JUSTICE (A.K.A. CHICAGO LAW) (NBC/Universal; W: Dick Wolf; D: Jean de Segonzac) - Nazneen Contractor ("Heroes Reborn") is set to star alongside Philip Winchester in the latest incarnation of the "Chicago" franchise, which will be set up in Episode 21 of "Chicago PD" this season. She'll play Assistant State's Attorney Dawn Harper to Winchester's lead prosecutor. (Deadline.com)
CRUEL INTENTIONS (NBC/Sony; W: Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin & Roger Kumble; D: Roger Kumble) - Bryce Cass (Battle Los Angeles) has scored a role on the drama pilot, a small screen revival of the 1999 cult feature about Bash Casey (Taylor John Smith), the son of Annette Hargrove (Kate Levering) and Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe in the film), 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. He'll play Miles Castillo, "the kid brother of Carmen (Nathalie Kelley), the Barrett family's chief of staff." (Deadline.com)
CRUNCH TIME (NBC/Universal; W: Betsy Thomas & Phil Gurin; D: TBA) - Andrea Anders ("Mr. Sunshine") has booked a lead role on the hybrid game show/multi-camera comedy pilot, which intercuts between a real game show and the scripted workplace that centers on Emily, an up-and-coming producer trying to wrangle the volatile host, Toby (Craig Ferguson). She'll play said Emily, "driven, loyal and level-headed, Emily is finally running a show she created. She has put on hold a personal life in exchange for her career, and time is running out for her to have it all." (Deadline.com)
DEATH OF EVA SOFIA VALDEZ, THE (ABC/ABCS; W: Charise Castro Smith; D: TBA) - Jeimy Osorio (Telemundo's "Celia") has been cast in the pilot, a sexy revenge drama with a supernatural twist about a Cuban-American family on the rise as they navigate multiple business ventures in Miami, familial rivalries and dark secrets from the past that come back to haunt them. She'll play Luz, "wild-haired and hugely pregnant, she's another of the strange 'shadow women' who is delighted to help Eva Sofia (Gina Torres) exact revenge on Blair (Eric Close)." (Deadline.com)
FOUR STARS (CBS/CTS; W: Becky Mode; D: R.J. Cutler) - Danielle Savre ("Hollywood Heights") has been cast in the drama pilot, about two powerful rival families in the military community of Tampa, Florida who make decisions at the highest levels in the interest of national security. She'll play Lieutenant Kriss, "a decorated combat pilot and lifelong adrenaline junkie, and the daughter of four-star Special Ops legend General Buckley (Bruce Greenwood)." (Deadline.com)
HATERS BACK OFF (Netflix; W: Colleen Ballinger-Evans; D: TBA) - Erik Stocklin ("Stalker") has booked a role on the upcoming comedy, which delves into the oddball family life of Miranda Sings (Colleen Ballinger-Evans), an incredibly confident, totally untalented star on the rise who continues to fail upward by the power of her belief that she was born famous, it's just no one knows it yet. He's set as Patrick, "Miranda's neighbor and best friend." (Deadline.com)
HR (FOX/20th; W: Laura Steinel; D: Jeff Schaffer) - Patton Oswalt and Milana Vayntrub are both set to star opposite Judy Greer in the single-camera comedy pilot, about Jane (Judy Greer), who is caught between trying to manage her charmingly incompetent human resources department and a new eccentric CEO who dreams of bringing the New Jersey plastics plant into the future. Oswalt will play said CEO, Sam, who "lives life at a higher octave than everyone else, and is an 'ideas' guy, however none of his ideas is suitable for this small-town plant." Vayntrub then is set as Alex, "who's new to the company's H.R department and the adult workplace as this is her first job in the real world." (Deadline.com)
NO TOMORROW (The CW/CTS; W: Corinne Brinkerhoff, Scott McCabe & Tory Stanton; D: Brad Silberling) - Amy Pietz ("The Nine Lives of Chloe King") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about Evie (Tori Anderson), a risk-averse quality-control assessor who falls for free-spirited thrill seeker Xavier only to find out he lives his life that way because he believes the apocalypse is coming. She'll play Deirdre, "Evie's boss at the distribution center." (Deadline.com)
SPARK (ABC/ABCS; W: Michael Cooney; D: TBA) - Rege-Jean Page and Antonia Thomas have been tapped for roles in the drama pilot, a lavish primetime soap of passion, greed and hope set in the alternate reality of Steampunk, circa 2016, telling the story of two rival families battling for power and the woman who takes them down. He's set as Alex, "a handsome and charismatic young man with a wickedly sexy smile. He's the youngest son of the powerful Lavelle family, the industrial natural gas titans who control half the city and who are constantly jockeying to undermine the coal interests that rule the other half." She'll then play Pin, "the smart, driven, fiercely independent young woman whose mission it is to bring back electricity to the masses no matter the cost." (Deadline.com)
TIME AFTER TIME (ABC/WBT; W: Kevin Williamson; D: Marcos Siega) - Singer-actress Jordin Sparks has scored a role on the drama pilot, based on Karl Alexander's 1979 novel-turned-movie of the same name in which H.G. Wells (Freddie Stroma) builds a real time machine to travels to the future in search of Jack the Ripper (Josh Bowman). She'll play "New York stylist Jesse Givens who is also Jane Walker's (Genesis Rodriguez) roommate and good friend." (Deadline.com)
TRAINING DAY (CBS/WBT; W: Will Beall; D: Danny Cannon) - Julie Benz ("Defiance") is bound for the drama pilot, a reimagining of the feature of the same name about an idealistic young African-American police officer, Kyle Craig (yet to be cast), who is appointed to an elite squad of the LAPD where he is partnered with seasoned, morally ambiguous detective Frank Rourke (Bill Paxton). She'll play Holly McCabe, "an unapologetic Hollywood madam who looks like a woman half her age and takes pride in how well she treats her girls. In addition to having a tacit understanding with Frank, they are also a couple." (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED DELBANCO & STOLLER PROJECT (Netflix, New!) - Husband-and-wife team Nick Stoller and Francesca Delbanco have reportedly scored an eight-episode straight-to-series order from the streaming service for a new comedy "about a close-knit group of college friends who are all approaching forty. Two of them have been hooking up on-and-off for two decades and are now married to other people. The series is described as an exploration of what happens to the group's marriages and friendships when one couple moves." No other details were given. (Variety.com)
VLAD (NBC/WBT; W: Adam Sztykiel & Vladimir Caamaño; D: TBA) - Josh Segarra ("Sirens") has been tapped for a role on the multi-camera comedy pilot, inspired by comedian Vladimir Caamaño's real-life family dynamic living with his Dominican father and older brother in the Bronx. He'll play Frankie, Vlad's older brother. (Deadline.com)
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND (CBS/WBT; W: Dan Kopelman; D: Tim Story) - Alyssa Milano and Jee Young Han are the latest additions to the single-camera comedy pilot, about Kenny (Jason Lee) and Robin, two fortysomething parents who were wild and reckless teenagers now face their worst nightmare - raising three teenagers of their own. Milano will play the aforementioned Robin with Han as Jess, "the opinionated receptionist at Kenny's firm, who is always painting the worst-case scenarios of what his kids are doing and loves cornering Kenny's clients for her own thrills." (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Freeform's "Switched at Birth" will sign off after its upcoming 10-episode fifth season (@Lizzy_Weiss); Marycarmen Lopez has signed onto OWN's "Queen Sugar" as Reyna Velez, "the school teacher at the local New Orleans elementary school" (Deadline.com); Tiffany Dupont will recur on "Murder in the First" as Serena Parrish, "who has made a name of herself in the male-dominated world of sports reporting as an aggressive, independent blogger" (Deadline.com); Dylan Gelula has scored an arc on Hulu's "Casual" as "a student at Laura's (Tara Lynne Barr) new school" (Deadline.com);
Actor Malachi Kirby and director Jakob Verbruggen are both bound for Netflix's "Black Mirror" (Deadline.com); Kesha, Kelsea Ballerini and Thomas Rhett will play themselves in upcoming episodes of "Nashville" (THR.com); Manish Dayal is bound for "Halt and Catch Fire" as Ryan Ray, "a brilliant and genuine young coder at Mutiny" (THR.com); and Dennis Haysbert will likewise recur on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" as FBI Special Agent Bob Anderson, "who is an old colleague of Captain Holt's" (EW.com).
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