After stepping away from NBC’s Saturday Night Live, many wondered what Andy Samberg had in store for his future career.  It looks like one of his upcoming projects will be a return to television in a pilot for an untitled Fox comedy series written by Parks and Recreation co-creators, Mike Schur and Dan Goor.  The comedy centers on a motley group of detectives stationed near the outskirts of New York City.  Samberg would play the lead detective in a role that show creators say is a perfect match.  Hit the jump to hear what else Schur and Goor had to say, in addition to news on Brendan Fraser toplining the TNT pilot, Legends. 

It looks like CBS Films has found their terrorist hunter in Chris Hemsworth (Thor) for American Assassin.  Hemsworth would be playing Mitch Rapp, a college scholar and athlete who becomes a relentless anti-terrorism agent for the CIA as a result of a personal tragedy.  The adaptation is actually from Vince Flynn’s 11th novel in his best-selling series, but since it’s a prequel, it acts as a good jumping off point for a potential movie franchise.  Other talent involved with the picture is director Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Traitor, Homeland), writers Ed Zwick (Defiance) and Marshall Herskovitz (The Last Samurai), and producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler.  Oh and did I forget to mention that Bruce Willis is circling a role as a CIA mentor of sorts?  Hit the jump for more.

When last we reported on American Assassin, it was to inform you that Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Traitor) was set to direct.  Now, it looks like Bruce Willis is in negotiations to join the adaptation.  Based on the novel written by Vince Flynn and adapted by Mike Finch, American Assassin is a prequel story that shows the tragic road that led college scholar and athlete Mitch Rapp to join the CIA in order to hunt down terrorists.  While the part of Rapp has yet to be cast, Willis is in talks to play a CIA operative who acts as a mentor to Rapp.  Hit the jump for more.

CBS Films has tapped Jeffrey Nachmanoff to direct an adaptation of Vince Flynn’s spy novel American Assassin. The book is actually the 11th in Flynn’s series that centers on CIA Agent Mitch Rapp. Assassin serves as a prequel to the series and tells the story of how, as a college scholar and athlete, tragedy forged Rapp’s path to become a ruthless hunter of terrorists for the CIA. Edward Zwick was initially tapped to direct the film, but he dropped out when the schedule conflicted with his next directorial effort, The Great Wall.

Nachmanoff previously directed the 2008 thriller Traitor starring Don Chedele, and recently helmed two episodes of Showtime’s fantastic series Homeland. Deadline reports that Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz wrote the most recent draft of Assassin, but Herskovitz exited when Zwick did. There’s no word on who’ll they’ll bring in to do a rewrite. Nachmanoff himself wrote The Day After Tomorrow and the upcoming Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner The Last Stand. CBS Films previously planned on beginning the potential Mitch Rapp franchise with Consent to Kill, but decided Assassin provided a better starting point. The film really hinges on who plays Rapp, and CBS Films plans on going with a younger actor. Hopefully we hear some casting news soon. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of the book.