Amazon is courting some big names from the world of television and movies for their new potential series. Guillermo del Toro and Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino are among the creatives involved in the latest round of pilot orders from Amazon Studios. The new buys include a comedy, a dramedy, two dramas and a supernatural thriller; guess which ones are del Toro's and Sherman-Palladino's.
Deadline reports that Amazon Studios has picked up five new pilot orders; they are as follows:
- Carnival Row, a supernatural thriller from the Pacific Rim team of del Toro and Travis Beacham, with Rene Echeverria (Star Trek).
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a dramedy from Sherman-Palladino.
- Strange New Things, a drama from writer Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies) and director Kevin MacDonald.
- The Legend of Master Legend, a real-life superhero comedy from writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster.
- Tropicana, a pre-revolutionary Cuba drama from writers Josh Goldin and Rachel Abramowitz with producer Andrea Simon.
Here's a bit more info on each of the pilots, starting with Carnival Row. The project is a TV series version of Beacham's 2005 supernatural spec script, A Killing on Carnival Row. In 2015, Amazon Studios ordered three scripts based on the material, to be written by the aforementioned trio of del Toro, Beacham, and Echeverria, with Peter Cameron. Echeverria wrote the pilot script and will serve as showrunner as that script now moves into production. The story takes place in the fictional burgh of, well, Burgue, which resembles London in the 1700s. The city happens to be home to humans and other creatures, and the central conflict involves a serial killer on the loose.
Sherman-Palladino's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel centers on a 1950s housewife who decides to become one of the first female stand-up comedians. Sherman-Palladino wrote and will executive produce the dramedy pilot after she wraps up post-production on the Gilmore Girls movies bound for Netflix.
Strange New Things is an adaptation of Michel Faber’s 2014 book "The Book of Strange New Things," which centers on English pastor Peter Leigh. A once-in-a-lifetime journey into deep space takes Leigh light-years from his wife, Bea, in a love story that places the two beloveds at opposite ends of the universe. Brian Eno (Shutter Island, Trainspotting) will provide the music to the ambitious project, described as "Heart of Darkness" in space. The horror...
Image via Rolling Stone / Joshuah Bearman[/caption]
The Legend of Master Legend is a half-hour comedy based on Joshuah Bearman's Rolling Stone article of the same name. It follows the (mis)adventures of the title hero and his sidekick Ace as they attempt to fight crime, defend the helpless, and pay their rent on time before they get evicted.
And finally, Tropicana, which is set in pre-revolutionary Cuba and centers on The Tropicana nightclub. The drama aims to explore "the intersection of entertainers, the mob, Batista loyalists, Castro revolutionaries and the American CIA."
There's quite a bit of variety here to go along with some well-established names. Which of these pilots jump out at you as something you'd like to see turn into a full series? Let us know in the comments below!
