Development roulette: Shows that might live
The need for recognizable properties, writers and talent is more important than ever to cut through the thousands of hours of scripted TV out there.
Getting the right rights, the right writers and the right team on board is increasingly tough, and producers are having to get in earlier, and spend more, to get the books and intellectual property that will be the backbone of their drama slates. They also increasingly need to co-produce and attract a number of partners as the pieces of the jigsaw come together.
We take a look at projects at different stages of development, and which could be the next big thing … if they make it to screen.
‘Dracula’
The “Sherlock” team and former big cheeses on “Doctor Who” are getting gothic with their next project: a reworking of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat will pen the series, and the BBC looks set to be the U.K. home. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was the last small-screen Vlad, and the lead role in “Dracula” will be one of the most eagerly awaited casting announcements of 2018.
‘Valkyren’
The remake rights to “Valkyren” were fiercely fought over, with fledgling U.K. indie Hera Pictures ultimately winning the rights. Mark Strong (“The Imitation Game”) will star as a surgeon who sets up an illegal underground hospital in an attempt to save his dying wife.
‘Ibiza87’
Irvine Welsh is turning his hand to TV. The “Trainspotting” author is working up acid house drama “Ibiza87,” which will tell the story of the early days of rave music on the party island. Musical cred comes in the form of Ibiza DJs Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold, who will advise on the soundtrack. James Corden’s Fulwell 73 will make the series.
‘King Kong’
King Kong has filled many a big screen since being let loose in the 1930s movie. Kong’s TV appearances have been in animated form, but a live-action series based on the early work of filmmaker Merian C. Cooper and illustrator Joe DeVito’s Skull Island books is now in the works. MarVista and IM Global are in charge.
‘Deep City’
Studiocanal’s Tandem is making “Deep City,” a grown-up soap opera about the music scene in Miami. It comes from “Nashville’s” Callie Khouri and “True Detective’s” T Bone Burnett, with Emilio Estefan the musical adviser and Universal Music attached. Juan Carlos Coto (“From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”) is the writer and showrunner.
Also known as “One Giant Leap — The Truth Behind the Moon Landing,” the script for “The Eagle Has Landed” comes from Stephen Kronish (“24,” “The Kennedys”) and tells the story of the trip to the moon. The project is one of the first from Atrium, the drama financing group set up by former Sony chief Sir Howard Stringer and distributor DRG.
‘Paradise Lost’
“The Hobbit” star Martin Freeman is working on “Paradise Lost,” a TV adaptation of John Milton’s epic 17th-century poem. U.K.-based Dancing Ledge will produce and describes the series as “a biblical ‘Game of Thrones.’ ” Freeman might appear in the series.
‘American Purgatory’
David Ebershoff, the writer of “The Danish Girl,” is writing “American Purgatory,” a series about Ellis Island in the early 1920s and the people who are held there while awaiting entry in to the U.S. Keshet Studios is in charge, and Season 1 will focus on an inspections officer and a female journalist who escape Russia’s civil war.