Two More Film-Based TV Series in the Works: Damien at Lifetime and Ashecliffe at HBO
Steve Barton
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We all know that these days the best horror is on TV, and two more awesome sounding new genre shows are heading to Lifetime and HBO. Read on for the early details of “Damien” and “Ashecliffe,” respectively.
Per Deadline, Lifetime has given a straight-to-series pickup to “Damien,” a sequel drama about what became of the evil child in the 1976 film The Omen, written by former “The Walking Dead” showrunner Glen Mazzara.
“Damien” has received a six-episode order for an early 2015 premiere. It is produced by Fox TV Studios, whose sibling Twentieth Century Fox produced the movie and where Mazzara is under an overall deal. The thriller series follows the adult life of Damien Thorn, the mysterious child from the 1976 feature who has grown up, seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him. Haunted by his past, Damien must now come to terms with his true destiny — that he is the Antichrist, the most feared man throughout the ages.
“Glen Mazzara has re-imagined Damien as a dark, romantic anti-hero; and this fresh take blends complex characters with premium storytelling to make something truly original,” said Lifetime EVP Rob Sharenow. Mazzara executive produces through his 44 Strong Prods. alongside Ross Fineman of Fineman Entertainment, who developed the project alongside Mazzara, and Pancho Mansfield.
As for “Ashecliffe,” HBO and Paramount Television are making deals to turn the 2010 hit film Shutter Island into a TV series that’s now tentatively titled “Ashecliffe.” Again according to Deadline, the plan is for the pilot to be directed by Martin Scorsese from a script by Dennis Lehane, who wrote the bestselling thriller novel Scorsese and screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis turned into the hit film that starred Leonardo DiCaprio. The timing is dependent on the availability of Scorsese.
“Ashecliffe” is the name of the isolated mental hospital where the movie took place, and the series begins before the events of the film. The focus is the past of hospital and the secrets and misdeeds perpetrated by its founders, who erected the hospital in the early 20th Century and developed the methods of treatment used for the mentally ill.
Scorsese, Lehane, Kalogridis, Brad Fischer, Appian Way’s DiCaprio and Jennifer Killoran Davisson, Rick Yorn, Chris Donnelly, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Phoenix’s Mike Medavoy, and Arnie Messer will be exec producers. Tom Bernardo is working with Lehane as a co-writer of the format.
Look for more on both of these new series as it comes.
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Categorized:News
