Author: Kate Stanhope

September 26, 2016 1:00pm PT by Kate Stanhope

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Pullman will play a detective who becomes fascinated with a housewife after she commits a violent crime.

Bill Pullman is headed to USA Network.

The Independence Day: Resurgence actor has joined the NBCUniversal cabler’s drama pilot The Sinner starring Jessica Biel, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Based on Petra Hammesfahr’s best-selling book of the same name, The Sinner centers on a young mother who is overcome by an inexplicable fit of rage and commits a startling and very public act of violence. Even worse, she has no idea why. The incident launches an inverted and utterly surprising crime thriller whose driving force is not the who or the what — but the why. A rogue investigator finds himself obsessed with uncovering the woman’s buried motive, and together they travel a harrowing path into the depths of her psyche and the violent secrets hidden in her past.

Pullman will play Harry Ambrose, a sensitive, dogged detective, who finds himself disturbed and uniquely fascinated by Cora Tanner (Biel), an ordinary housewife who impulsively, and very publicly, commits a violent crime. Convinced the bare facts of the case conceal something considerably more significant, Ambrose starts to dig deeper into Cora’s life.

Based on Petra Hammesfahr’s best-selling book of the same name, The Sinner centers on a young mother who is overcome by an inexplicable fit of rage and commits a startling and very public act of violence. Even worse, she has no idea why. The incident launches an inverted and utterly surprising crime thriller whose driving force is not the who or the what — but the why. A rogue investigator finds himself obsessed with uncovering the woman’s buried motive, and together they travel a harrowing path into the depths of her psyche and the violent secrets hidden in her past.

Derek Simonds (The Astronauts Wives Club) wrote the pilot for the hourlong drama and Antonio Campos (Simon Killer) is set to direct. The two will exec produce with Biel and her producing partner Michelle Purple through their Iron Ocean Films banner. Universal Cable Productions will produce.

Pullman can currently be seen in Rob Reiner’s biopic LBJ, and recently reprised his role in the Independence Day follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster. In addition to films such as The Grudge, The Equalizer, Sleepless in Seattle and While You Were Sleeping, his small screen roles include 1600 Penn and Torchwood. He is repped by ICM, Anonymous Content and Lichter Grossman.

Pilot Season USA Network

September 26, 2016 12:05pm PT by Kate Stanhope

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Michael Rauch and Alex Kurtzman are also attached to the pilot as EPs.

Alan Cumming is eyeing a possible return to CBS.

The Good Wife grad is attached to star in and exec produce the drama Dr. Death currently in development at the network, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Based on the soon-to-be-published book of the same name by James Patterson, Dr. Death follows a former CIA operative who has since built a “normal” life as a gifted professor and writer. He is pulled back into his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer on the loose. 

Michael Rauch (Royal Pains) will write the script. He will also exec produce with Cumming and Patterson as well as Alex Kurtzman, Kurtzman’s producing partner Heather Kadin, Bill Robinson and Leopoldo Gout. The project hails from CBS Studios, which also produces the adaptation of Patterson’s Zoo, which recently wrapped its second season. 

For Cumming, this would mark his first small-screen role since The Good Wife concluded its run last May. He earned four Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Eli Gold. Several of his former co-stars, including Christine Baranski, Cush Jumbo and Sarah Steele are set to reprise their roles for the forthcoming Good Wife spinoff, which will bow in February. Cumming’s other TV credits include The L Word and Web Therapy.

Kurtzman recently inked a new deal with CBS TV Studios, which coincided with his split from former producing partner Roberto Orci. Kurtzman and his Secret Hideout banner are also attached to CBS All Access’ upcoming Star Trek: Discovery. 

Rauch, whose USA drama Royal Pains went off the air in July, is also working on a legal drama for CBS with Jennifer Lopez attached to exec produce.

TV Development

September 26, 2016 11:28am PT by Kate Stanhope

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The project is based on the short story “The Boom” written by Janine Sherman Barrois (‘ER,’ ‘Criminal Minds’), who will pen the script.

John Wells and Anthony Hemingway are joining forces.

TNT has ordered a drama pilot, Hinges, which hails from the prolific producer behind ER and The People v. O.J. Simpson director, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Described as a drama that “provocatively and humorously dissects middle-class suburbia,” Hinges centers on two sets of neighbors whose lives are dramatically changed in the wake of a scandal that rocks their community. Each season will shift the focus to a different set of families, and will expose the American Dream to be an illusion as it exposes the cracks beneath a community’s seemingly happy surface.

Hinges is based on the short story The Boom, written by Janine Sherman Barrois (ER, Criminal Minds). She will also pen the pilot and exec produce with Wells, Hemingway and Mark Taylor (Underground). Hemingway is also attached to direct the pilot.

“Hinges deals with timely, relevant issues, which not only makes for great storytelling but will also contribute to larger cultural conversations,” said TNT evp of original programming, Sarah Aubrey. “We look forward to expanding TNT’s relationship with John Wells, whose Animal Kingdom was one of the summer’s biggest hits, and Janine Sherman Barrois, who is also producing our new dramedy pilot Claws.”

In addition to his work on ER and The West Wing, Wells’ other credits include Showtime’s Shameless and TNT’s former cop drama Southland. Hemingway is fresh off his Emmy win for best limited series for FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson, which he exec produced and also directed five of the 10 episodes. His other producing credits include Underground and Treme.

Hinges is one of five pilots in the works at TNT. The Turner cabler also has the nail salon dramedy Claws, the post-Civil War drama Monsters of God, the modern-day drama Civil, and a remake of Let the Right One In.

Hinges comes as TNT continues a major network overhaul towards darker programming that began with Wells’ Animal Kingdom, and will continue with the Michelle Dockery drama Good Behavior later this year. 

Pilot Season TNT