Future Shows (News/Casting)

“Magnum P.I.” is getting the reboot treatment at CBS, Variety has learned.

Peter Lenkov, the writer and producer behind current CBS reboots of “Hawaii Five-O” and “MacGyver,” will serve as the writer and executive producer on a new version of the classic 1980s series, which has a pilot production commitment at the network.

Described as an updated version of the original series, “Magnum P.I.” follows Thomas Magnum, a decorated ex-Navy SEAL who, upon returning home to Hawaii from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. With help from fellow vets Theodore “TC” Calvin and Orville “Rick” Wright, as well as that of disavowed former MI:6 agent Juliet Higgins, Magnum takes on the cases no one else will, helping those who have no one else to turn to. Tom Selleck played the mustachioed Magnum in the original series.

corkie wrote: »

Female Higgins???????

CastorTroy wrote: »

So that will be reboots of Five 0, MacGyver and Magnum PI all on CBS. And since they like having their shows in the same universe with Five 0, MacGyver and the NCIS series all crossing over in some way or the other, will that mean Magnum is always just going to be in a different part of Hawaii than Steve and co? I assume there'll be crossing over there as well

Variety has learned that the project is in very early development stages, and that no script has yet been written. Hulu earlier this year acquired the rights to develop a series based on the landmark 1952 novel, which is owned by the Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust. John Callahan is serving as an executive producer on the project.

Winner of the National Book Award in 1953, “Invisible Man” is considered a classic of 20th century American literature. The novel is told from the perspective of an unnamed African-American narrator who considers himself to be socially invisible due to the color of his skin. The narrator recalls stories from his life — first growing up and attending college in the South, then migrating to and living in New York City.

Fox has given a script commitment plus penalty to Snow Blind, an hourlong witness protection drama based on the graphic novel by Ollie Masters (DC/Vertigo’s The Kitchen) and Tyler Jenkins (Grass Kings), from Prison Break executive producer and Dominion creator/showrunner Vaun Wilmott, Boom! Studios and 20th Century Fox TV.

Written by Wilmott, Snow Blind centers on Sheriff Billy Bowden, who, after a local story on him goes viral, struggles to keep his past life of crime and his placement in witness protection hidden from his friends and family in a small Alaska town.

Wilmott executive produces with Boom! Studios’ Stephen Christy and Ross Richie. Boom! and 20th Century Fox TV, where Boom! is under a first-look deal, co-produce.

Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” is being eyed for an adaptation into a television series, Variety has confirmed.

Endeavor Content has purchased the film and television rights to the book, which goes inside the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency. It largely portrays Trump as unprepared for the enormity of his office, and that he is unable to focus his attention on policy details. The book also includes quotes from former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who referred to the 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer as “treasonous.” Bannon eventually resigned his position at Breitbart News over the furor caused by his statements.

The book proved to be an immediate best-seller and was sold out at bookstores in several major cities the day it was released.

n a competitive situation, Anonymous Content and Paramount Television have acquired the rights to develop a series based on The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood’s best-selling MaddAddam trilogy, comprised of the novels Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam.

MaddAddam is the harrowing, cautionary, inspirational story of a global pandemic and the end of mankind, and the small group of survivors who are left to shepherd a new race to inherit the world. The series centers on Jimmy, a young boy disillusioned with the all-powerful corporations who rule civilization, whose best friend will develop the drug that wipes out humanity; Toby and Ren, two members of the cult “God’s Gardeners” who fight to survive on the margins of society; and Zeb, one of the founders of “God’s Gardeners.”

Anonymous Content’s David Kanter and Bard Dorros will executive produce along with Rock Paper Scissors Entertainment’s Angus Wall, Linda Carlson and Kent Kubena. Maddaddam will be produced through the first look deal that Paramount TV and Anonymous Content recently signed with Rock Paper Scissors, which includes both scripted and unscripted content.

“I am very happy with the vision described to me by Angus, Kent, David, Bard and Amy, as well as the stunning visual presentation they put together. I very much look forward to working with them,” said Atwood.

Anonymous Content’s Dorros and Kanter jointly said, “We’re thrilled to be bringing MaddAddam Trilogy to television. The worlds of Oryx & Crake, The Year of the Flood and MadAddam beautifully illustrate the extraordinary range of Margaret Atwood’s imagination and go deeply afield in time and global evolution presenting fascinating opportunities to dramatize the wildest vision of the future ever shown on television. We’re excited to be embarking on this wonderful journey together with Angus Wall, our friends at Rock Paper Scissors and our partners at Paramount Television.”

“Margaret Atwood’s unique and singular literary voice speaks to the greater issues facing our current climate and resonates with fans worldwide; the MaddAddam Trilogy is no exception,” said Amy Powell, President of Paramount TV. “These stories are perfectly suited for portrayal on television and we are thrilled to once again bring a literary masterpiece to life with our partners at Anonymous Content, Angus Wall and Rock Paper Scissors Entertainment.”

MGM Television (Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale) has optioned Hiding In Time, an Image Comics miniseries written by Christopher E. Long and illustrated by Ryan Winn, to develop as a television series. Richard Smith (In Her Name/White Horse Pictures) is attached to pen the adaptation.

Published under the ShadowLine Comics label in 2007, Hiding in Time, is set in the near future, where time travel has been cracked and the Witness Protection Program begins relocating those who turn in State’s Evidence to various times in history. Abraham Smith is one such witness, relocated to the past, living a life that’s not his own, centuries before he’s even born. When a witness within the Program is murdered anachronistically, a conspiracy is revealed and Abraham’s safety is called into question.

Long is set to co-executive produce, along with Ray Miller and David Server of Archetype who will serve as producers. Lloyd Braun of Whalerock Industries executive produces with MGM Television’s Andrew Mittman.

The three-part series had a limited release but was well-received and was optioned by Warner Brothers in 2008 for a feature film.

American Gods producer FremantleMedia North America has acquired the rights to Astro City superhero comic book series to develop as a live-action TV drama series.

The Astro City comics, created by writer Kurt Busiek and artists Brent Anderson and Alex Ross, spans 16 (and counting) standalone yet loosely-connected story arcs containing more than 2,000 original characters. It is claimed to be the last, fully fleshed out superhero universe in the English language comic book business that has not been exploited for the screen. Astro City made its debut in 1995 with Image Comics and is currently published by DC Comics.

Despite the fact that the comic books’ current publisher, DC Comics, is owned by Warner Bros., Busiek owns all of the rights to Astro City, which he will now exploit in TV with FMNA.

The fictional Astro City universe explores the lives of ordinary people and those of the all-too-human superhumans in their midst, and their collective, daily struggle to hold on to hope in the face of world-shaking, life-altering events beyond any single individual’s control.

A mid-sized American city blessed with, and cursed by, the largest number of superheroes and supervillains in one place on Earth, Astro City is described as a unique brand of humanistic saga — part superhero epic, part intimate drama — in which the (mostly) good hearted, workaday residents of the eponymous locale come into daily contact with the worrisome, the weird and the wondrous.

EXCLUSIVE: Media Rights Capital is back in business with Stephen King, its partner on The Dark Tower. MRC has optioned the Stephen King #1 bestselling novel The Outsider. MRC plans a 10-episode limited series adaptation, and they have secured Richard Price to write it. Jack Bender and Marty Bowen are exec producing with MRC. Bender and Bowen teamed on the series Mr. Mercedes, and Bender is a possible to direct the pilot for The Outsider. King has the option to join as executive producer. MRC will develop the show with Price writing the pilot before they set it at a network.

Showtime is in final negotiations to make a straight-to-series commitment for a drama that Oscar-winning screenwriter Steve Zaillian will write and direct that focuses on Tom Ripley, the sociopath anti-hero of the Patricia Highsmith crime novel series. Sources said that this will go in a straight-to-series deal and that Zaillian is expected to write and direct most of the first season’s worth of episodes. It will be the first major series for Zaillian since the acclaimed HBO mini The Night Of.

Zaillian will use the five novels written by Highsmith — The Talented Mrs. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley’s Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley and Ripley Underwater — as a road map to show Ripley’s progression from con artist to serial killer.

The series will be produced by Endemol Shine North America and Entertainment 360, with Sharon Levy overseeing. The series will be executive produced by Zaillian, Garrett Basch, Philipp Keel, Ben Forkner, Levy and Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady. Keel is the head of Highsmith’s longtime publisher, Diogenes, in Zurich.

Highsmith’s novels have been turned into movies several times, with Matt Damon, Alain Delon, Dennis Hopper, Barry Pepper and John Malkovich all portraying Ripley over the years.