Phew! Lots of action on the drama front today…
– Cam Gigandet is set to re-team with his “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke for CBS’s “Reckless,” a sexually-charged legal drama centering on a beautiful Yankee attorney and a Southern lawyer (Gigandet) who struggle to hide their attraction to one another while they go head-to-head in a police sex scandal case. Also boarding the project is Michael Gladis (“Mad Men”), who will play the Chief of Police. Hardwicke is on tap to direct the pilot, which was created by Dana Stevens (“What About Brian”). [Deadline]
– Speaking of “Reckless,” “Almost Famous” star Patrick Fugit has been cast in the same-named ABC pilot, a drama about a man named David Ritter (Fugit) who heads overseas to rescue his doctor wife by any means necessary after she’s unjustly imprisoned following a political uprising in East Myanmar. Fugit joins the previously-cast Eloise Mumford (as the wife), Ernie Hudson, Lou Taylor Pucci and Ashton Holmes (“Revenge”). The prospective series will be written by Chris Black (“Ugly Betty,” “Desperate Housewives”), who executive-produces alongside “Casino Royale” director Martin Campbell (onboard to helm the pilot episode) and Lucienne Papon. [Hollywood Reporter]
– Jay Hernandez (“Last Resort”) has been cast in the Fox drama pilot “Gang Related,” which centers on Ryan Lopez (“Charlie’s Angels” star Ramon Rodriguez), a gang member recruited to infiltrate the ranks of the San Francisco Police Department who struggles with the increasing sense of loyalty he feels for his new law-enforcement “family.” Hernandez will play Dante Acosta, the son of the gang leader and Ryan’s childhood best friend. Also set to star Sung Kang (“The Fast and the Furious”) and Inbar Lavi (“Underemployed”), the pilot was written by Chris Morgan (“Fast & Furious”), who will executive-produce alongside Scott Rosenbaum (“The Shield”). Allen Hughes (“Broken City,” “Book of Eli”) is on board to direct. [TV Line]
– Jamie Chung (“Sucker Punch,” “Once Upon a Time”), Sienna Guillory (“Resident Evil”), Delroy Lindo (“Get Shorty,” “The Cider House Rules”) and newcomer Johnny Sequoyah have all joined NBC’s “Believe,” a drama pilot centering on a young girl (Sequoyah) who possesses a “great gift” that will come to fruition in seven years’ time and the prison escapee (Jake McLaughlin) assigned to protect her from the individuals hunting her down. Lindo has been tapped play Winter, a man with an “honorable agenda” posing as a priest, while Chung wil play Winter’s employee Channing who assists McLaughlin’s character when he makes his escape. Guillory, meanwhile, will play “cool hit-woman” Moore. Alfonso Cuaron (“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”) and Mark Friedman will write the pilot and executive-produce alongside Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk. [Deadline/ Hollywood Reporter]
– Lance Gross (“House of Payne”) and Halston Sage (“How To Rock”) have joined NBC’s untitled Rand Ravich (“Life”) drama pilot, in which the former will star as a Secret Service agent whose first day on the job becomes a living nightmare when his charge – the son of the President – is kidnapped along with several of his classmates. Sage will play Amber, one of the abducted schoolchildren and the daughter of Meg (the previously-cast Gillian Anderson). Ravich will write and executive-produce the pilot, which also has Rachael Taylor (“Charlie’s Angels,” “666 Park Avenue”) set to star. [Deadline]
– Ana De La Reguera (“Cowboys & Aliens”) has joined ABC drama pilot “Big Thunder,” based on the Disney rollercoaster ride Big Thunder Mountain (seriously). The potential series centers on a brilliant New York daughter in the 19th century who relocates with his family to a frontier mining town ruled over by a powerful but shady tycoon who makes him a “once-in-a-lifetime” offer. De La Reguera will play Selena Morales, a tough, independent woman who lives on her own terms. The series, executive-produced by “Twilight” screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, was penned by Jason Fuchs and will be directed by Rob Bowman (“Castle,” “The X-Files”). [Deadline]
– Colin Salmon (“Arrow,” “Resident Evil: Retribution”) and relative newcomer Robbie Kay have been cast in the Bravo pilot “Rita,” a drama about an outspoken private-school teacher (“Breaking Bad”‘s Anna Gunn) who must balance raising three teenagers with the demands of her job. Salmon will play Colin Paige, the aristocratic head of the school’s history department, while Kay has been cast as Rita’s gay son. The pilot, which comes from writer Krista Vernoff (“Private Practice,” “Grey’s Anatomy”), will be directed by Miguel Arteta (“The Carrie Diaries,” “The New Normal”). [Deadline]
– Tom Mison (“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”) has been tapped to play Ichabod Crane in Fox’s “Sleepy Hollow,” a modern-day interpretation of the classic Washington Irving tale that’s also set to star Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones and Katia Winter. In this version Crane will be a Revolutionary War captain who time-warps to the present-day version of the titular town to help the residents there ward off the murderous spirit of the horseman whose head he lobbed off in battle. Beharie is set to play Abbie Archer, one of the town’s detectives who partners with Crane. Len Wiseman (“Underworld,” “Total Recall”) is on board to direct the pilot from a script written by Alex Kurtzman, Bob Orci and Phillip Iscove. [Deadline]
– Erik Jensen has been cast in the CBS drama pilot “Second Sight” opposite “My Name Is Earl”‘s Jason Lee. Jensen will play one of the officers working alongside Lee’s Tanner, a New Orleans detective afflicted with an ocular disorder that causes him to experience traumatic “anxiety dreams” and hallucinations. Written by Michael and Gerald Cuesta (“L.I.E.”), the pilot is based on the British series of the same name that starred Clive Owen. [Deadline]
– British thesp Toby Rego has nabbed the male lead in the CW pilot “Reign,” which centers on 15-year-old Mary Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane) as she arrives in France to marry Prince Francis (Regbo), who is unsure of the arranged marriage (not to mention the idea of inheriting his father’s throne) and acts out by having an affair. The pilot is set to be directed by Bard Silberling (“Land of the Lost,” “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”) from a script by former “Ghost Writer” scribes Stephanie Sengupta and Laurie McCarthy. [Deadline]
– Michael Stahl-David (“Cloverfield,” “The Black Donnellys”) and Patrick Heusinger (“Royal Pains,” “Gossip Girl”) have been cast in Fox drama pilot “Boomerang,” about a family of U.S. government assassins and the “loose-cannon” son (Stahl-David) who is forced to return to the fold after a mission in Guatemala goes terribly wrong and leaves him with no money and no options. Heusinger will play the older brother of Stahl-David’s character who envies his smarter, flashier sibling. The prospective series, which has Felicity Huffman (“Desperate Housewives”) on board for the mother role, was written by Davey Holmes (“Awake,” “In Treatment”). [Deadline]
– Pablo Schreiber (“Weeds”) has been tapped to star opposite Blair Underwood in NBC’s reboot of the 1960s TV series “Ironside,” about a wheelchair-bound police detective who directs his hand-picked law-enforcement team to solve the most difficult cases. Schreiber will play team member Virgil, one of the force’s toughest members. Mike Caleo (“Rescue Me,” “The Sopranos”) wrote the pilot, which will be directed by Peter Horton (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Shield”). [Deadline]
– Stephen Louis Grush has landed one of the lead roles in the ABC drama pilot “Lucky 7,” about a group of seven service station employees whose lives are forever changed when they hit the lottery jackpot. Grush will play Nicky, one of the seven who previously served time in prison. The pilot was written by David Zabel and Jason Richman (“Detroit 1-8-7”). [Deadline]
– Johnny Simmons (“The Perks of Being A Wallflower”) will star in the CW pilot “Blink,” a family dramedy about an angsty teenage girl (Madeline Carroll) whose father falls into a semi-coma following a car accident that renders him incapable of speaking or moving but able to hear and see everything. Written by Vera Herbert (“Awkward”) and executive-produced by David Marshall Grant (“Smash”), the series’ voice-over narration will be provided by the bedridden father, whose mind will be tapped into via a series of “wry” fantasy sequences. Simmons will play Dodge, the “sleazy bachelor” brother of Carroll’s character who is trying to piece his life back together. [Deadline]
– CW pilot “Company Town” has added a trio of actors to its cast: Merle Dandridge (“Sons of Anarchy”), Arjun Gupta (“Nurse Jackie”) and Dondre Whitfield (“The Event”). The prospective series will focus on two twentysomething young women – Krista (Gage Golightly) and Page – whose close friendship crumbled after they found themselves on opposite sides of a feud separating civilians and military personnel living in a Virginia Naval community rocked by scandal. Dandridge will play Louise, a Navy Division Director who is suddenly promoted to a position that leaves her in charge of a base involved in the scandal, while Gupta is set to play Jack, a Navy Chief Petty Officer who secretly harbors big dreams. Whitfield, meanwhile, has been cast as Don, a trauma surgeon working at the base’s hospital. The pilot, which also has Maya Kazan aboard to star, was written by Sera Gamble (“Supernatural”) and will be directed by Taylor Hackford (“Ray,” “Parker”). [Deadline]
Thoughts on any of the above? Let us know in the comments.