'Supernatural' Spinoff, Rob Thomas' 'iZombie,' 'Flash' Ordered to Pilot at CW
4:00 PM PST 1/29/2014 by Lesley Goldberg
The pickups bring the network's pilot haul to five so far this season.
The CW is doubling down on Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas and Supernatural.
The network has picked up to pilot Thomas' DC Comics adaptation iZombie, the rumored Supernatural spinoff and made official its pilot order for fellow DC entry Flash, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Supernatural: Tribes will explore the clashing hunter and monster cultures of Chicago and hails from writerSupernatural's Andrew Dabb, who will exec produce alongside Eric Kripke,Robert Singer, showrunner Jeremy Carver and McG. Singer will direct the Warner Bros. Television entry.
iZombie is described as a supernatural crime procedural that centers on a medical student-turned-zombie who takes a job in the Coroner's Office in order to gain access to the brains she must reluctantly eat so that she can maintain her humanity. However, with every brain she eats, she inherits the corpse's memories. With the help of her medical examiner boss and a police detective, she solves homicide cases in order to quiet the disturbing voices in her head.
Thomas and Veronica Mars' Diane Ruggiero will pen the script and executive produce the Warner Bros. Television and Rob Thomas Productions' entry alongside frequent collaborators Danielle Stokdyk and Dan Etheridge. The drama is based on the characters created by Chris Robertson and Michael Allred and published in the comic from DC's Vertigo imprint.
Finally, the network confirmed its pilot order for Arrow spinoff The Flash, which was formerly intended to be a planted episode but will now be filmed as a stand-alone. Grant Gustin stars as scientist Barry Allen and is given the power of super-speed that transforms him into the Fastest Man Alive. Arrow's Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and DC'sGeoff Johns will pen the script and executive produce alongside David Nutter, who will direct the pilot. Berlanti Productions' Melissa Kellner Berman will co-EP. The previously announced Jesse L. Martin, Danielle Panabaker and Rick Cosnett co-star.
The pickups come after Supernatural notched a three-year high on Wednesday and continues the network's recent track record with spinoffs. This season, The CW successfully launched The Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals and will, should bothSupernatural: Tribes and Flash move forward, will have three spinoffs on the air as The Originals is considered very likely to return for a second season.
For Thomas, the project extends his relationship with The CW after the network picked up a Veronica Mars web series spinoff that the prolific producer will also oversee for the network's digital platform CW Seed.
iZombie and Flash bring to four the number of DC Comics titles to earn a pilot order this season; Fox has Batman prequel Gotham and NBC has Hellblazer adaptation Constantine. The zombie story arrives as AMC's The Walking Dead continues to break records for AMC, ranking as TV's No. 1 scripted drama among adults 18-49. The series is based on the Image Comics title created by Robert Kirkman. NBC is also prepping Babylon Fields,which explores what happens when the dead rise in New York and ABC's Forever, a procedural about an immortal medical examiner.
The trio of pilot orders brings The CW's haul to five so far this pilot season and continues the network's love affair with sci-fi under president Mark Pedowitz.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/supernatural-spinoff-rob-thomas-izombie-675484
CW Orders Terrorism Drama From Kurtzman/Orci, 'Jane the Virgin'
3:30 PM PST 1/29/2014 by Lesley Goldberg
"Identity" hails from Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, while Jennie Snyder Urman's "Virgin" is based on the Venezuelan telenovela.
The CW joined the pilot fray Wednesday, picking up dramas from three established producers.
The youth-skewing network has picked up terrorism drama Identity, from Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, and Jane the Virgin, an adaptation of the Venezuelan telenovela.
Identity centers on a young woman in need of a transplant who learns she is related to a powerful family whose son is her only hope for a donor organ. The CIA approaches her to investigate the family's involvement in domestic terrorism and to infiltrate their rarified world. Her loyalty, morality and ethics are tested as she's forced to slowly build a case against the family who saved her life.
Corinne Brinkerhoff (The Good Wife) will pen the script and exec produce alongside Kurtzman, Orci and their K/O Paper Products president Heather Kadin. Scripted World's Rob Golenberg (Betrayal) and Alon Aranya (Hostages) will also executive produce the drama from CBS Television Studios, K/O and Scripted World.
Identity was one of multiple projects Kurtzman/Orci had in the works this season after the Star Trek duo moved from 20th Century Fox to CBS Television Studios last year.
Jane the Virgin hails from Emily Owens, M.D.'s Jennie Snyder Urman, who will pen the script for the project, which centers on a hard-working, religious, young Latina woman who is accidentally artificially inseminated following a series of surprising and unforeseen events.
Urman will executive produce the CBS Television Studios entry alongside Electus' Ben Silverman, Gary Pearl and Jorge Granier.
Virgin is one of multiple sales Urman and Silverman had this development season. It's Urman's second pilot order so far this season and joins Fox's multicamera comedy Sober Companion, which the network is producing with an eye toward series production.
Wednesday's pilot orders join The Flash, a spinoff of second-year drama Arrow that is now being filmed as a stand-alone pilot rather than a planted episode in the series starringStephen Amell. This brings the network's tally to three (so far).
For its part, The CW in the past two years has ordered eight drama pilots. The network has not yet developed an original scripted comedy but is looking to its digital platform, CW Seed, to potentially develop web properties with an eye on making the transition. The CW in September picked up Canadian sperm donor sitcom Seed with an eye on pairing it withWhose Line Is It Anyway.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cw-orders-terrorism-drama-kurtzman-675456
The CW & Warner. Bros. is DETERMINED that I will never abandon their Network. Ever since "Smallville" ended & "One Tree Hill" fell the fukk off, I was hoping "Supernatural" would be the last remaining CW show I would ever watch & I would never get into an original CW show.Now these nikkas done hooked me onto "Arrow" & "The Vampire Diaries" in the last month or 2,. I'll probably hop onto TVD-spinoff "The Originals", when I'm caught-up to the current season of TVD. They trying to keep me invested into this network with that "Supernatural" & "Flash" spin-off. Even some of the new shows that aren't spinoffs, have notable producers like Rob Thomas or Kurtzman/Orci, that I fukks with from other TV shows & movies.
and that new show The 100 they got dropping in March looks like it me piff too
