Author: Kate Stanhope, Lesley Goldberg

February 12, 2016 10:30am PT by Kate Stanhope, Lesley Goldberg

 Getty Images; Courtesy of Photofest

The ‘In Living Color’ alum will take on the role originated by Danny Glover in the drama, which has now officially been picked up to pilot.

Lethal Weapon is kicking into high gear.

Following a prolonged dealmaking process, the network has tapped Damon Wayans Sr. to star as Roger Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon, lifting the cast contingency on the drama and clearing the way for its formal pilot pickup Friday. 

Based on the feature film franchise starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, the reboot — which counted NBC as a bidder — hails from Warner Bros. Television, whose film division, Warner Bros. Pictures, produced the original movies. Here’s the formal logline: When Texas cop and former Navy SEAL Martin Riggs suffers the loss of his wife and baby, he moves to Los Angeles to start anew. There, he gets partnered with LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh (Damon Wayans Sr.), who, having recently suffered a “minor” heart attack, must avoid any stress in his life. Wayans will take over the role of Roger. Gibson’s role has not yet been cast.

Fox’s reboot hails from Matt Miller (Chuck, Forever), who will exec produce via his WBTV-based Good Session banner. Lin Pictures’ Dan Lin (The Lego Movie) and Jennifer Gwartz also exec produce. Lethal Weapon reunites Miller with Lin, who teamed for last year’s ABC drama Forever, which was canceled after one season. McG will direct the pilot.

Fox gave a hefty put-pilot commitment to the project in October following a competitive situation. Lethal Weapon is one of multiple movie remakes in the works this pilot season. Fox is also prepping a modern reinvention of The Exorcist and passed on its Urban Cowboy take; CBS is prepping a new version of Nancy Drew and a reimagining of Training Day; and NBC has a sequel to Cruel Intentions as well as a Taken prequel ordered straight to series. Reboots continue to be in high demand as broadcast (as well as cable and streamers) look for proven brands in a bid to break through an increasingly competitive scripted landscape. Key to the reboots is having the original producers involved, which for Fox’s Lethal Weapon, is not the case. However, sources tell THR that the original filmmakers have blessed the TV reboot though they will not be credited on the drama.

Lethal Weapon originally opened in 1987 and grossed $120 million worldwide. It spawned three sequels, which grossed a combined $835 million worldwide.

The casting marks a homecoming for Wayans, who starred on and wrote for Fox’s popular sketch show In Living Color for four years. He went on to star in and exec produced the ABC family comedy My Wife and Kids, which also ran for four years. Wayans’ most recent screen role was on an episode of Happy Endings in 2011. He is repped by ICM Partners and Kleinberg Lange.

Keep up with all the latest pilot news with THR’s handy guide to pilot season.

Pilot Season

January 22, 2016 3:45pm PT by Kate Stanhope, Lesley Goldberg

 AP Images/Invision

Comedy ‘Superior Donuts,’ based on the Tracy Letts play, has also been picked up to pilot.

Jason Katims is checking back into CBS.

The network has ordered the Parenthood alum’s medical drama Bunker Hillto pilot, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Bunker Hill follows a young Silicon Valley tech titan who enlists a veteran surgeon with a controversial past in starting a hospital with a cutting edge, “new school” approach to medicine.

Originally developed last year (when it narrowly missed a pilot pickup), the drama is said to be in the vein of Katims’ former NBC medical drama County but set within a relevant, forward-thinking “wish fulfillment” hospital of the future.

Friday Night Lights grad Katims penned the new script and exec produces alongside his Universal Television-based True Jack topper Michelle Lee. Universal Television and CBS Television Studios will co-produce Bunker Hill.

Bunker Hillis one of many Katims has set up across town as True Jack ventures beyond broadcast. The beloved and Emmy-winning writer-producer next has Hulu’s straight-to-series The Path starring Aaron Paul and has drama pilot Us in contention at HBO as well as a drama in development at Showtime. On the broadcast side, Katims has a funeral home-set musical soap in the works with The Wiz producers that’s in contention at NBC.

On the comedy side, CBS has ordered a pilot for Superior Donuts. Based on the Broadway play by Tracy Letts (August: Osage County), the project follows the relationship between the owner of a donut shop, his new young employee and their patrons in a gentrified Chicago neighborhood. The half-hour multicam hails from writers Neil Goldman & Garrett Donovan (Community, Scrubs), and Bob Daily (CBS’ The Odd Couple), who will exec produce with Mark Teitelbaum and John Montgomery. CBS Television Studios will produce.

The Katims drama comes as CBS remains high on medical dramas. The network Freshman Code Black — which earned a full-season order — has been a sturdy player for the procedural-heavy network this season.

The Superior Donuts order arrives as multicam sitcoms The Big Bang Theory and The Odd Couple continue to bring in solid numbers for CBS. However, in recent years the network has also tried to dip its toe into the single-camera space with series like Life in Pieces.

Katims is repped by CAA and Schreck Rose, Goldman & Donovan are repped by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham, and Daily is repped by WME.

Pilot Season CBS

August 27, 2015 5:00pm PT by Kate Stanhope, Lesley Goldberg

 Newscom

Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov replace Andrew Dettmann, who left over creative differences earlier this month.

Chicago Med is admitting two new faces behind the scenes.

Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov have inked a deal to become the new showrunners of the freshman NBC drama, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Schneider and Frolov were most recently co-executive producers on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and consulting producers on Amazon’s Bosch. Their other credits include The Sopranos, for which they won an Emmy and a WGA award, Northern Exposure, for which they won two Emmys and two Golden Globes, Showtime’s The Chris Isaak Show and The CW’s Easy Money.

The husband-and-wife team replaces Andrew Dettmann, who was brought on to the project in early July but departed last Friday over ” The exit came just eight days after Dettmann appeared with the cast and fellow executive producers Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead to tout the series at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.

Dettmann will continue to develop with NBC and Universal TV, which produces Chicago Med along with Wolf Films.

Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. showrunner Olmstead, who helped write the backdoor pilot for Med, told THR he had no desire to take control of the franchise’s latest spinoff. “There’s no way I could do all three, nor would I want to or be capable of it,” he said. “Dick didn’t want it. Network didn’t want it.”

The showrunner change has been the latest hiccup for Chicago Med. The series was moved up from midseason to fall to accommodate a production delay on NBC’s other freshman medical drama, Heartbreaker, due to star Melissa George‘s pregnancy. Walking Dead alum Laurie Holden, who appeared in the backdoor pilot in April, departed the series earlier this month citing family commitments

In addition to original stars Oliver Platt, S. Epatha Merkerson, Nick Gehlfuss and Yaya DaCosta, all of whom appeared in the backdoor pilot, Colin Donnell, Rachel DiPillo, Torrey DeVitto and Brian Tee have been added to the show’s ensemble.

Schneider and Frolov will exec produce with Wolf, Olmstead, Danielle Gelber, Peter Jankowski, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas.Production on the series starts next month in Chicago.

Schneider and Frolov are repped by WME. 

Chicago Med premieres Nov. 17 at 10 p.m. on NBC.