Yes, all the exciting news is coming out of Utah for the past week, but the television world has quietly been pushing forward. Here’s a wrap up of some of the more intriguing film-related stuff that’s been happening.
With the critical and cultural success of AMC‘s “Mad Men,” it seems everybody wants their own period drama and Ridley and Tony Scott are throwing their hat in the ring. The directing and producing duo are developing “The Drivers” under their Scott Free shingle, and it’s “a series based on the high-octane 24-hour motor race in Le Mans during the 1950s-1960s.” The series will tell the tale of a bunch of young and wild international drivers who take their friendships and rivalries to the race track. The project will be based on the book “Shelby: The Man, The Cars, The Legend” by Wallace A. Wyss — get your engines started. No network is yet attached to the project, but with the Scott brothers overseeing things, interest is sure to be high.
Meanwhile over at Fox, they’ve picked up a pilot by “No Strings Attached” writer Liz Meriwether titled “Chicks and Dicks.” Sigh. You’ll be shocked to learn that it’s an “ensemble comedy about the sexual politics of men and women.” Let’s hope it has some of the piss and vinegar missing from the Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman vehicle.
Finally, Oscar-winner scribe Stephen Gaghan (“Traffic“) had his pilot “S.I.L.A.” picked up by NBC. A sprawling, multi-threaded tale like “Traffic” and “Syriana,” this drama is “set in the world of crime, law enforcement and politics in sprawling modern-day Los Angeles.” And while it’s been five long years since we’ve seen anything by Gaghan on the big screen, he’s currently writing “Dead Spy Running” for Warner Bros. with McG and Kevin McCormick producing.