With the success of shows like “Bates Motel” and the promise of the forthcoming small-screen adaptation of “Fargo,” networks are once again looking to the silver screen for future shows. Deadline reports that NBC—no doubt emboldened by the critical reception to “Hannibal”—has ordered a pilot for an hour-long medical thriller based on the 1995 Wolfgang Petersen-helmed viral thriller “Outbreak.” Shepherded and written by “ER” veterans John Wells and Jack Orman, the series will follow “an ensemble of characters as they race to contain a lethal virus before it becomes a global pandemic.” Can NBC go two-for-two with their adaptations?
The past decade has seen many a showrunner tease and promise a big-screen version of a short-lived series. The latest entrant is “Luther” creator Neil Cross who, in an interview with The Telegraph, has revealed his very real and concrete plans to film a prequel to the Idris Elba-starring BBC crime drama that ended this year. “I’ve written the script and we hope to get the film made next year,” said Cross before adding that the film would “follow [Elba’s] career in the earlier days.” We’re big fans of Elba so we’re excited to see more of him, no matter the venue, but Cross may have to move fast as Elba is continually attaching himself to projects, just recently joining Cary Fukunaga’s “Beast Of No Nation.” But if you need more “Luther” in your life, check out the trailer for the upcoming 4-part miniseries below.
Historically, actors have attempted to flee TV for the film world, but the changing landscape in both mediums have flipped the migration. TV Line reports that Paul Giamatti has landed a starring role in the hour-long adaptation of Charles Willeford’s Hoke Moseley series for FX. Titled “Hoke,” the series will see the “Sideways” actor play “a hardboiled and possibly insane homicide detective by the name of Hoke Moseley in Miami Circa 1985.” “The Lookout” writer-director Scott Frank will pen the pilot, which has no director attached yet.
Last week came word that Robert Rodriguez’s low-budget classic “El Mariachi” would be getting the small-screen adaptation for the Latin Market courtesy of Sony TV. It seems that decision was news to Rodriguez himself, as Deadline reports that the director and his team “thought that [the idea of the show] had been abandoned.” A source close to “Desperado” director added that he condemns the future series as “a sloppy and lazy replica for the tourist trade, without any of the heart and soul that made the original ‘El Mariachi’ win the Sundance Audience Award and become a landmark in independent cinema.” So no, Rodriguez is not happy but since the director doesn’t own the rights to the first film there’s little he can do to stop the series from moving forward.
In a savvy move, Jay Baruchel will follow up his role as himself in the meta-comedy “This Is The End” with, you guessed it, another role loosely based on himself. Variety reports that the Canadian actor will star in a currently untitled comedic series for ABC. The show is described as “a semi-autobiographical take on Baruchel’s life as an actor who eschews the superficiality of Hollywood to move back home to Burlington, Vermont, where he buys a home down the street from his mom and invites his close childhood friends to live with him.” Baruchel will write the series with his “Goon” partner Jesse Chabot.
