CW to Develop Drama Series Based on Stephen King’s ‘The Revelations of ’Becka Paulson’

Joe Otterson TV ReporterElle Fanning is attached to star in the Universal Content Productions (UCP) series based on the real-life case of Michelle Carter, which has landed at Hulu, Variety has learned.Titled “The Girl From Plainville,” Fanning will star as Carter, who was infamously convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 after texting her boyfriend encouragement to commit suicide three years prior.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAMC is expanding its true crime slate with talent deals for four creators.Mona Chalabi, Naomi Ekperigin, Cameron Esposito, and Jena Friedman will all work with the company to develop original true crime series for its linear networks and streaming services.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon’s series adaptation of “A League of Their Own” has been ordered to series, Variety has learned.Like the 1992 Penny Marshall film, the hour-long series will tell the story of an entire generation of women who dreamed of playing professional baseball.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has given a straight-to-series order to a drama that hails from Adam Perlman as well as Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s Team Downey production company.The Downeys and Amanda Burrell will executive produce on behalf of Team Downey, with Robert also potentially playing a supporting role.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA new iteration of “Who’s the Boss?” is in development.Variety has confirmed that a sequel series to the classic sitcom is in the works at Sony, with original stars Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano onboard to reprise their roles.The new show will take place 30 years after the events of the original series and be centered around former major-league baseball player and retired housekeeper Tony Micelli (Danza) and his relationship with his daughter Samantha Micelli (Milano),

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmy Adams and Adam McKay are coming together again for a Netflix limited series about a class action lawsuit against Walmart.Titled “Kings of America,” the series is based on real events and centers on the stories of three women whose lives were inextricably intertwined with the world’s largest company: a Walmart heiress, a maverick executive, and a longtime Walmart saleswoman and preacher who dared to fight against the retail giant in the biggest class action lawsuit in

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNetflix and Ubisoft have teamed for an anime series adaptation of the video game “Splinter Cell”, Variety has learned.Derek Kolstad, best known for his work writing the “John Wick” film franchise, will serve as writer and executive producer on the series. According to sources, the series has received a two-season, 16 episode order at the streaming service.Netflix, Ubisoft, and reps for Kolstad declined to comment on the specifics of the deal.The first “Splinter Cell”

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJonathan Levine has signed on to direct all eight episodes of the upcoming Hulu series adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s “Nine Perfect Strangers.”Levine will also executive produce the series, which features an all-star cast including Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Samara Weaving, Luke Evans, Melvin Gregg, Grace Van Patten, and Tiffany Boone.Levine most recently directed the feature comedy “Long Shot” starring Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has come onboard the BBC One series “The Pursuit of Love” from Emily Mortimer. Filming on the series has now begun after it was delayed in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.Written and directed by Mortimer, the three-episode series adaptation of the Nancy Mitford novel of the same name is set in Europe between the two World Wars.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO has optioned a book proposal about the hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine with Adam McKay onboard as an executive producer, Variety has confirmed.The potential limited series is based on the book proposal “The First Shot” by Brendan Borrell.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterOprah Winfrey has set up an interview series at Apple.“The Oprah Conversation” will debut on the streaming service on July 30. Filmed remotely, the show will feature Winfrey engaging in dialogues with thought leaders and newsmakers from all over the world.In the debut episode, “How to Be an Antiracist,” Winfrey and bestselling author Professor Ibram X.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAMC’s upcoming animated drama “Pantheon” is filling out its main cast.Paul Dano, Taylor Schilling, Aaron Eckhart and Rosemarie Dewitt have all been cast in the series, Variety has confirmed. It was picked up for two seasons back in March.The one-hour show is based on a series of short stories by Ken Liu about Uploaded Intelligence, or human consciousness uploaded to the cloud.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNina Dobrev and Bruna Papandrea are teaming to adapt the Greer Macallister novel “Woman 99” for television.Dobrev will star in and executive produce the series, with Papandrea also executive producing under her Made Up Stories banner. Made Up Stories’ Steve Hutensky and Casey Haver will also serve as executive producers with Janice Park serving as producer.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterElisabeth Moss is attached to star in and executive produce a series adaptation of the 2013 Lauren Beukes novel “Shining Girls,” which has been ordered to series at Apple.Moss will star as a Chicago reporter who survived a brutal assault only to find her reality shifting as she hunts down her attacker.Silka Luisa will write the adaptation and serve as executive producer and showrunner.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterVince Vaughn is attached to executive produce an animated comedy series in the works at Fox, Variety has learned exclusively.Fox has given Vaughn, Victoria Vaughn, and Peter Billingsly’s Wild West Picture Show production company a blind script deal for an animated series. No writer is currently attached, but Fox Entertainment will produce.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJonathan Majors is on — well, a major roll at the moment. Majors has appeared in a string of high-profile features in a matter of a few short years.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHulu has optioned the rights to Curtis Sittenfeld’s alternative history book “Rodham,” which takes place in a world in which Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton.The series is described as telling the story of an ambitious young woman, developing her extraordinary mind in the latter part of the 20th century, moving from idealism to cynicism and all the way back again.Sarah Treem is attached to write and executive produce the project.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Pose” co-creator Steven Canals has a new limited series in the works at FX.Titled “81 Words,” the series tells the true story of gay activists Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings, who risked their career reputations to conspire with the GAYPA – a clandestine group of closeted psychiatrists – to challenge the American Psychiatric Association’s definition of homosexuality.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLaura Benanti has joined the ensemble cast of the Fox drama pilot “Big Leap,” Variety has learned exclusively.The one-hour project centers on a group of diverse underdogs from all different walks of life who compete to be part of a competition reality series that is putting on a modern, hip remake of “Swan Lake.” It is inspired by the UK docuseries “Big Ballet.”Benanti will play Paula Dirks, a tap dancer and white-collar former V.P.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon is developing a half-hour comedy series with Crab Club Inc. and SB Projects.The series is titled “The Undesirables.” It is set in a near-future Los Angeles that explores the unexpected relationships that form when a group of outcasts are forced to bond under unusual circumstances.Ken Cheng of Crab Club and Arvin Chen will write and executive produce.