After the massive undertaking that was “Cloud Atlas,” what’s next for Tom Tykwer? Well, first he’ll shoot “A Hologram For A King” with Tom Hanks, and once that’s done, he’ll tackle a 12-part German language TV series entitled “Babylon Berlin.” Screendaily reveals it will based on the books of Volker Kutscher, and focus “on the figure of Inspector Gereon Rath who hails from Cologne and arrives in the Berlin of 1920s, the epicentre of political and social changes of those years.” The initial batch of episodes will focus on Kutscher’s first two books, with Tykwer adapting them alongside screenwriters Achim von Borries and Hendrik Handloegten, with producers hoping that the final result will sit along TV greats like “The Wire,” “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “Boardwalk Empire.”
Coming off the year he had in 2012, Channing Tatum has clout to spare in Hollywood and he’s using it to help an old friend. Deadline reports the “Magic Mike” actor, alongside his producing partner Reid Carolin, have struck a deal with CBS to develop a half-hour comedy called “Nicky” with old childhood friend and TV veteran Nick Zano set to star. The sitcom, under the tutelage of “Rules Of Engagement” writers Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen, is “based on Zano’s experiences being raised in a multi-generational house of seven women in New Jersey.” No timeline is set for the show.
Acclaimed novelist and occasional screenwriter George Pelecanos—“The Wire” and “Treme”—held a reading for his latest book last week and revealed that he was back at work with his former boss, “The Wire” co-creator David Simon, for a pilot set in 1970s New York City for HBO. With Simon’s latest series, the New Orleans-set “Treme,” ending its run later this year with a shortened five-episode season it’s good to hear that we may not have long to wait to see another series from the man behind one of the greatest series that television has ever seen. And a series that could him back in his wheelhouse, the world of law enforcement. No word on when a pick-up decision will be made but let’s all cross our fingers.
After leaving the “The Fast and the Furious” franchise, Justin Lin has decided to fill his free time with some TV, with Deadline reporting that the filmmaker will direct two different put pilots. First up is the new Fox show from “The Shield” creator Shawn Ryan, the untitled hour-long drama that “is set in 1957 in the Territory of Hawaii, which is on a path to become the 50th state in the Union two years later. Statehood and tourism are about to make a few men very rich, and when the brother of a small-time Hawaiian hustler is murdered, he resolved to wage war on the most powerful man on the island.” The second series from Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci on CBS, “is inspired by the true story of Walter O’Brien’s life and how he, a man with the fourth highest documented IQ, became a real-life professor X. He recruited the world’s greatest intellects to his company where they not only solved the world’s most pressing and significant problems, but also helped each other learn to fit in and live in a world where literally being ‘one in a billion’ can be as lonely as it sounds.”
Speaking of “The Fast and the Furious,” THR reports that a small screen modernized adaptation of the classic western, “The Cisco Kid” is in development. Described as an “action-packed show in the vein of ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and ‘The Equalizer,’” the show will follows a “dishonorably discharged Marine as he returns to L.A. for his father’s funeral and learns that his father was actually the mythical Cisco Kid, who helped the downtrodden and disenfranchised who had been let down by the system. Cisco and his best friend, Dan, join the remaining members of his father’s team and take the mantel of the Cisco Kid, vowing to find justice for those who can’t find it anywhere else.” Salma Hayek and Lauren Shuler Donner will produce the show with Chad Damiani and J.P. Lavin scripting it.
Susan Sarandon must have had a great time on “30 Rock.” Deadline reports that Sarandon will star alongside her real-life daughter Eva Amurri Martino in a single-camera comedy series for NBC. “Growing Ivy,” written by Martino herself alongside Will McCormack, follows “Type A+ Davis who craves the stability she lacked in her childhood and, as a result, has thrown herself into her career at the expense of her personal life. In an attempt to restore balance and potentially find love, she invites her freewheeling, eccentric mom, Franckie, to move in with her and work on their relationship.”
Henry Winkler is getting his own vehicle at ABC, penned by his son Max Winlker, Rob Reinis and “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator Phil Rosenthal, with the latter directing the pilot. Deadline revals that the show will center “on an emotionally reserved construction worker who learns about love, life and hugs while unexpectedly living with his in-laws.” So no, this isn’t the Barry Zuckercorn spinoff you were hoping for.
Lastly, Deadline reports Raymond Chandler’s famed detective Philip Marlowe will see his next adventures on the small screen. ABC has put a series into development from “Castle” showrunner Andrew Marlowe—seriously— that is described as “a smart, sexy and stylish update of Chandler’s character which follows the investigations of wisecracking, edgy and rugged private detective Philip Marlow as he naviagates the morally complicated world of today’s Los Angeles.” Now who can fulfill that iconic role? —additional reporting by Kevin Jagernauth
