Michael Yarish/FX
Damson Idris in "Snowfall"
'Snowfall' underwent rewrites and reshoots, with the pickup coming a year and a half after its pilot pickup.
FX is reloading its drama pipeline.
The cable network, fresh off the decision to wrap Tyrant and set an end date for The Strain, is moving forward with John Singleton's 1980s-set cocaine drama Snowfall.
FX announced Friday that it has handed out a 10-episode series order to Snowfall, with the series set to debut in 2017. The pickup comes nearly a year and a half the cable network picked up the drama to pilot. In that time, FX redeveloped the drama with the script undergoing rewrites that included some recastings on the pilot. The original was co-written by The Boyz n the Hood's Singleton and Eric Amadio. The new pilot was penned by Singleton, Amadio and Dave Andron, who boarded the project and will serve as showrunner. Singleton directed the original pilot, with the new version that ultimately led to the series order helmed by Belgian duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Image).
The original pilot was set in 1981 and starred Damson Idris, Sergio Peris-Mencheta and Billy Magnussen. The new series is set in 1983. Here's the official description: "A storm is coming and its name is cocaine. Snowfall is a one-hour drama set against the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. The story follows numerous characters on a violent collision course, including: Franklin Saint (Idris), young street entrepreneur on a quest for power; Gustavo Zapata (Peris-Mencheta), a Mexican wrestler caught up in a power struggle within a crime family; Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson), a CIA operative running from a dark past who begins an off-book operation to fund the Nicaraguan Contras; and Luica Villanueva (Emily Rios), the self-possessed daughter of a Mexican crime lord." Magnussen is no longer attached.
The series hails from FX Productions, with Andron (Justified), Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing, The Americans), Singleton, Amadio, Michael London (Sideways) and Trevor Engelson (Remember Me) credited as exec producers.
"We are excited to add Snowfall to our original series lineup," FX president of original programming Eric Schrier said. "Dave Andron, Tommy Schlamme, John Singleton and Eric Amadio have delivered a riveting and beautiful pilot and we can’t wait to start work on the series." Production will begin in October.
Snowfall joins an FX drama lineup that includes anthologies Fargo, Feud, American Horror Story and American Crime Story as well as The Americans, the fourth and final season of The Strain, Noah Hawley's upcoming X-Men take Legion and Tom Hardy mini Taboo.
FX Network FX
