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HBO’s sibling pay-cable channel Cinemax is venturing into original programming with its first scripted primetime drama, Strike Back, a 10-hour action series it will co-produce with British satcaster Sky and U.K.-based Left Bank Pictures (The Special 
Relationship). The project, written by The X-Files alum Frank Spotnitz and British TV writer Richard Zadjlic (EastEnders), is inspired by the Sky series Strike Back, which in turn was based on Chris Ryan’s book of the same name. That series, produced by Left Bank Pictures, premiered last summer and starred Richard Armitage as John Porter, former British Special Forces soldier drafted back into service by MI6. The 
Cinemax/Sky version will have new settings/storylines and will introduce new characters, led by Damien Scott (Animal Kingdom‘s Sullivan Stapleton), a charismatic former U.S. Special Forces operative who teams up with a British military unit led by Section 20 officer Michael Stone bridge (Fringe‘s Philip Winchester) to stop an international terrorist group. The series is slated to film in South Africa and Hungary from Feb-July 2011 for a premiere on Cinemax in the summer. Executive producing are Left Bank’s Andy Harries and Sky1′s Elaine Pyke, with Dan Percival (HBO’s Dirty War) and Spotnitz co-exec producing and Michael Casey producing. Percival, Bill Eagles and Alex Holmes will direct.
While HBO has built its brand on strong original series, this marks the first major primetime scripted series effort for Cinemax, whose original series fare to date has been mostly in the late-night adult entertainment arena. (In the 1980s, the network gave a short run to the British-produced sci-fi series Max Headroom, and last July, it ordered late-night anthology series Femme Fatales) Word is Cinemax is considering doing more scripted originals, mostly high-octane, sexy dramas, with a co-production model like the one with Sky on Strike Back as one way to do them. HBO and Sky are already in business together through their deal last summer that makes Sky the exclusive home for HBO programming in the U.K.
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And this is news?
Yeah, I might be a Spotnitz/Scully fan, the creators still are just more M.A.W.M. writers. Com’on, Frank, support diversity talent please.
Christ, your comments are boring. Same thing every damn time.
How many diversity hires have you made in the talent/writing department, Mr. Shorunner?
There she goes again!!! I think somebody pays her a buck every time she writes the word “diversity”.
I have hired a diversity writer on EVERY show I’ve run. And guess what? Not one of them worked out. And I worked my ass off encouraging them and trying to mentor them. But the fact is, they only got the job because they were black/latin/Asian/Persian, not because they were good writers. The diversity program is a joke. When I read a spec script, the cover page is always white and the print is always black. Those are the only colors that matter when I judge a writer’s talents.
You keep using “diversity talent” as if it’s some kind of catch all band-aid that’s going to fix all the ills of the entertainment industry. Please stop, just stop. It’s extreeeemely condescending and patronizing and…you just come off sounding simple minded. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Speak of diversity a little more eloquently and then maybe you’ll get more people to listen to you.
At no point have I said that hiring diversity talent is a “catch all band-aid”. I have been saying to give diversity talent a chance, give them the opportunity. That’s it. I have used the metaphor of alternative energy to describe diversity talent, the untapped source if you will. Alternative energy will not solve the energy crisis, but it will help us fix it. So, mec, please stop distorting what I’ve been writing about.
And regarding your “a little more eloquently” remark, I apologize but I do not know what you mean by that.
I believe that the problem of diversity hires may be solved thus, in the manner in which the surplus population of babies was solved by my grandfather in the early 1700s: we simply turn them into sandwiches. Not only will this cause a new sense of purpose in the minds of the minority talent, it will also inspire jealousy in their fellow non-minority actors. After all, what better emotion to inspire in an actor than jealousy? It is already second-nature to the befouled cattle-called brood, so why not use it to our advantage. Sooner than we imagine, actors of minority and non-minority (or as I call them, ‘the pale opaque’) talent alike will be clamoring for their latest role as a buttered bookend encasing two smoked meats of my choosing. Not only will the actors be thrilled by the attention, I have secretly surmised that many of them desire to be eaten already, given the way they dress. I hope you all will come aboard on my little scheme, and realize that the homeless in this city deserve the same world-class minority talent in their bellies as the wealthy elite.
I think this is good news. More channels for more scripted to picked up.
I’m with you.The more scripted series, the better.And especially shows that aren’t your typical procedurals.
This isn’t Cinemax’s first primetime scripted drama. They just finished shooting the first season of their new anthology series FEMME FATALES which was announced in July.
Yea let’s get all diversity writers because Tyler Perry is hilarious. I mean he dresses up like an overweight old woman and talks about busting a cap in peoples asses. That’s high comedy.
Strike Back with Richard Armitage was excellent. If the acting is as good (which will be difficult), this will be well worth watching.
It won’t be Strike Back with Richard Armitage’s John Porter character. Without that actor and that character it becomes a British version of the Unit or some other show.
Agreed. They should change the program’s title – like, Strike Back: Reboot. The original series of only six episodes was a treat to discover and I will definitely miss RA as JP, but what the heck he had the chance to play a hobbit.
The 1st series was utter rubbish;indifferently acted, ridiculously plotted, and slated by amateur and professional critics alike.Even Armitage called the screenplay “repulsive”.
Link to interview where Richard Armitage called the screenplay “repulsive” please.
Does this mean Winchester’s character, Leontes (sp?), from Starz’s Camelot series will be killed off? Saw him in the preview for this. That’s what led me here. Thanks