It took a few years, but actor Peter Facinelli (“Twilight” series) will finally see his Whitey Bulger project get off the ground. Facinelli was originally on board to produce a film adaptation of “Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer For Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob,” which was written by Edward MacKenzie and Phyllis Karas, but now Fox is looking to turn the project into a TV series. Facinelli will play the lead and has signed on as an executive producer. The book’s about the life of boxer and drug dealer Eddie MacKenzie who used to be an enforcer for Whitey Bulger, the project is to be penned by Larry Golin (“Rocky Marciano”). [Deadline]
If you’re a fan of the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” and you’re sad the series is finally coming to an end after nine seasons, get ready to wipe away your tears. Fox is actually in talks to make a female spin on the show, tentatively titled “How I Met Your Father.” The creators of HIMYM, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, are behind the spinoff as well as “Up All Night” creator Emily Spivey. The series will revolve around a new set of friends, chronicling a female member’s quest to meet her future husband. None of the original HIMYM cast members would be prominently featured in the show, but this new group may be caught hanging out at MacLaren’s Pub quite often.The premise is a no-brainer given the massive success of “How I Met Your Mother,” though it will be interesting to see exactly what year the show will take place during, considering Ted Mosby begins his story in the year 2005, when HIMYM made its debut. [Deadline]
ABC Family’s getting ready to terrorize viewers with a TV series adaptation of “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” which is currently in its early stages. Daniel Loflin (“Supernatural”) has signed on as writer and executive producer alongside Ted Field, who was actually also a producer of the 1992 film in which the TV series is based on. The original film was directed by Curtis Hanson and starred Annabella Sciorra and Rebecca De Mornay. De Mornay played a pregnant widow who winds up losing her baby and later becomes a nanny, terrorizing an unsuspecting family in the process. The movie came out in a year where psychosexual thrillers were quite popular, with “Basic Instinct” and “Single White Female” getting released just months later to great success. Ah, those were the days. ABC Family will perhaps go for a more sanitized spin on the story. [THR]
The third season of “Girls” has not even started yet, but plans are already being made for actor Andrew Rannells to become a series regular during the fourth season. Rannells, who has appeared in eight episodes of the show thus far, plays Hannah’s gay ex-boyfriend Elijah. HBO has yet to confirm that a fourth season of “Girls” will even happen, but clearly the show’s producers want to clear the actor’s schedule just in case. Season three will premiere on January 12th. [Deadline]
Finally, CBS is looking to dabble into witchcraft. The network is working on a reboot to “Charmed,” the WB show which ran for eight seasons, starring Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, Shannen Doherty and Rose McGowan. The reboot is currently being worked on by “Party of Five” creators Chris Keyser and Sydney Sidner and will center around four sisters who use their witchcraft to battle against forces of evil. Basically, the same exact concept as the other show with an extra sister. Development-wise, things are still very much in the early stages, but hopefully Keyser and Sidner decide to reboot “Party of Five” instead. Remember when Charlie had cancer? [Variety]