Nellie Andreeva

Friday Night Lights star Kyle Chandler, who turned down a slew of offers for broadcast pilots this season, is now being courted for FX’s drama pilot Powers. Based on the graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, the project, written by Charles H. Eglee and to be directed by Michael Dinner, is a police procedural set in a world where superpowers are relatively common. It  centers on two detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, in a homicide department that deals with cases involving “powers” (people with superpowers). Powers, from Sony Pictures TV and FX Prods., went through a couple of incarnations, including one with writer Kevin Falls.

Chandler has not committed to Powers and will not make a decision until he reads the new script. I hear the pilot was already slated to undergo a rewrite, which is now expected to incorporate notes from Chandler. So him signing for Powers is considered a long shot, but if he opts to do it, FX would successfully reunite the two Friday Night Lights leads — Connie Britton recently signed on to star in American Horror Story, the Ryan Murphy-Brad Falchuk pilot for the cable network. At FX’s upfront party last night in New York, FX president John Landgraf said that Powers, along with Outlaw Country, are contenders for an early 2012 series launch, while American Horror looks good for a fall 2011 premiere. Chandler has been very selective in choosing his TV follow-up to FNL, passing on a number of projects, including Terra Nova.

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