More Horror TV in the Works: The Butcher on Crackle and The Demons of Dorian Gunn on Pop
Debi Moore
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“TV” doesn’t just mean the typical broadcast networks we all grew up watching anymore; now there are outlets with snappy names like Crackle and Pop (sorry, couldn’t resist), and over the last couple of days both of them have announced new horror projects in the works.
Read on for the early details on Pop’s supernatural comedy pilot “The Demons of Dorian Gunn” and Crackle’s “The Butcher,” both of which were announced during the Television Critics Association’s Winter 2018 Press Tour and have some very familiar names behind them.
About “The Demons of Dorian Gunn”:
Pop’s new supernatural comedy pilot “The Demons of Dorian Gunn,” executive produced by Krysten Ritter (“Breaking Bad,” “Jessica Jones”) and JAX Media, will star Jeffery Self (“Search Party”), Chrissie Fit (Pitch Perfect 2/3), H. Jon Benjamin (“Archer”), Lateefah Holder (“Disjointed,” “Transparent”), and Kyle Harris (“Stitchers,” “High Maintenance”).
Written by Evan Greenspoon and Brandon Scott Jones (“Upright Citizens Brigade”), “The Demons of Dorian Gunn” follows disgraced New York socialite Dorian Gunn, who discovers he’s descended from a long line of demon hunters and is forced to abandon his life of leisure to protect humanity from monsters as they emerge from the gates of hell.
Pilot production for the series kicks off this month in New York City.
Jeffrey Self stars as antihero Dorian Gunn. After the mysterious death of his parents, Dorian’s gluttonous life as a celebutante has been in a downward spiral plagued with booze-filled antics that threaten his status with the family business. Although he desperately just wants to be a B-list celebrity, Dorian soon realizes his privileged life is going to become a bit more complicated by the fact he’s a Guardian destined to protect the world from demons.
Chrissie Fit stars as Leonie Crofton-Sears, Dorian’s mortal frenemy. Best friends since childhood, Leonie is the charming, trendy, and charismatic older sister Dorian wished he always had. She seems lovely until you remember those are also the traits of a sociopath. Leonie soon realizes she, too, comes from a magical linage – the cruel catch, she’s Dorian’s evil counterpart destined to bring demons through the Gate that Dorian is meant to defend.
H. Jon Benjamin plays Wormwood, a demon tasked with maintaining the balance of good and evil by overseeing the Guardians sworn to protect the living from demonic forces. Albeit begrudgingly, Wormwood serves as a guide to help Dorian and the other Guardians fulfill their destinies, proving good and evil are not always black and white.
Lateefah Holder stars as the straight shooter Amy Bugda, Dorian’s court-appointed addiction sponsor who quickly becomes his indispensable right-hand woman. Her moral compass rarely points in the wrong direction, so demon hunter or no, Dorian’s sobriety will not go unchecked. Her inability to stray from a righteous path can be frustrating at times, but her kind heart makes her a breath of fresh air.
Kyle Harris stars as Trip Chapman, the embodiment of white privilege. A filthy-rich, power-hungry 20-something-year-old, he was recently appointed acting executive director of the Greenwich Club by his ailing father. With this title, Trip is now guarding the one gate Dorian, Leonie, and their wealthy cohorts desperately want to enter.
“The Demons of Dorian Gunn” is written by Evan Greenspoon and Brandon Scott Jones and executive produced by Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns of JAX Media, Kara Welker of Generate, and actor Krysten Ritter through her production company Silent Machine. John Skidmore serves as producer. Mike Poisson and Peggy Cheng from Silent Machine serve as co-executive producers. Pop is a joint venture of CBS Corporation and Lionsgate.
About “The Butcher”:
Crackle, Sony Pictures Television Networks’ free ad-supported streaming network, has announced plans to partner with award-winning producers Douglas Urbanski and Gary Oldman of Flying Studio Pictures on the original drama “The Butcher.”
Written by Charles Burmeister (Columbus Day), “The Butcher” is a modern story of one man’s epic investigation to find, hunt down, and kill a serial killer who lives among us — someone who is very human, but also beyond human. Along the way the story’s hero, a hardened Los Angeles homicide detective named Mitch Dixon, must uncover the mystery of who The Butcher is, how he operates, and come to terms with the unbelievable truth — that he has discovered the key to immortality, the price of which is consuming human flesh.
In a joint statement, Urbanski and Oldman said: “We are incredibly pleased to be working with the wonderful creative team at Crackle on this unusual and hopefully gripping and creepy show as part of our effort to expand our creative energies beyond motion pictures and into the land of streaming television. ‘The Butcher’ marks our first step in bringing entertainment directly into our homes, and we could not be happier with the collaboration.”
Eric Berger, GM of Crackle and CDO, Sony Pictures Television Networks, added: “Viewers are obsessed with the supernatural; and we see an opportunity, in partnership with Gary, Douglas, and Charles, to introduce fans to a new kind of narrative around the genre. It’s a privilege to work with some of the best in the business, and we look forward to working closely with such an incredibly talented team in the months ahead.”
The two also recently partnered on a series of vampire novels from Simon & Schuster/Atria.
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