Horror on TV: Three New Pilots to Keep an Eye Out For
Steve Barton
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Deadline
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It’s pilot season for television networks, and while the horror offerings thus far have been on the light side, in addition to the previously mentioned “The Sixth Gun” at NBC and “The Originals” at The CW, we have news on three more pilots we’ll be keeping our eyes on.
Fox Television has greenlit a pilot featuring the legendary character Ichabod Crane, entitled, of course, “Sleepy Hollow”. The series was created by Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci (writers of “Fringe,” Transformers, and Star Trek) with Underworld director Len Wiseman on board to direct. 20th TV and Kurtz and Orci’s studio-based K/O Paper Products are producing the show.
“Sleepy Hollow” is a supernatural thriller based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; however, it is set in modern times. The show follows Ichabod Crane, who partners with the local female sheriff of Sleepy Hollow to solve the mysteries of the town ravaged by the battle between good and evil. Up-and-coming writer Philip Iscove dreamed up the idea for the series and co-wrote the script with Kurtzman and Orci.
Kurtzman, Orci and Wiseman will executive produce the show with Heather Kadin of K/O. In addition to his writing duties, Iscove will be a supervising producer. Not to be outdone, The CW is also still eying its own series based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Over on ABC, “The Returned” has been greenlit for production. The show will be a serialized thriller/drama by writer Aaron Zelman and produced by ABC Studios, Brad Pitt’s Plan B and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Zelman is best known as the writer of AMC’s standout series “The Killing”.
“The Returned” is based on the debut novel of Jason Mott, which is scheduled to be published in September by Mira Books. The rights to the story were hotly contested in a bidding war among production companies and studios. The show is based on the question as to what would happen if people who have died, been mourned for and buried suddenly return to their families as if nothing has happened. The lives of the folks of Aurora, where “The Returned” is set, are turned upside-down when deceased loved ones suddenly return.
Executive producers for “The Returned” are Zelman and JoAnn Alfano and Jon Liebman from Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Plan B’s Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner.
Finally, The CW has its own genre show fans will certainly be able to get into. “The Selection” has had the folks at the network very excited since the concept was pitched to them in 2011. The Hunger Games-style story inspired the channel to order a pilot last year; however, the script, written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, didn’t make the cut. The network instead kept the program in redevelopment and asked for a new script from Craft and Fain. The new treatment hit the mark as CW president Mark Pedowitz said the network was very happy with what they saw and greenlit the project.
Based on the book by Kiera Cass, “The Selection” is set 300 years in the future. It’s an epic romance tale about working-class young women who are chosen via a lottery to participate in a competition with 34 others for the Royal Prince’s hand in marriage, which would make them the new queen. Our heroine is forced to balance loyalty to family, true love and kingdom as she tries to stay true to herself in the cutthroat competition, all while a growing rebellion threatens to crush the crown. Sounds deliciously brutal! Warner Brothers is producing.
More on these and all the other upcoming genre television programs as we get it. Stay tuned!
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