Nellie Andreeva

Consumer product giant Procter & Gamble has partnered with Walmart for a fourth family friendly 2-hour movie/backdoor pilot to air on NBC as a time buy. The project, Magic Eye, centers on Tyler McFarland (Tony Oller), the captain of the high school football team who is expected to lead his school to victory but must make the difficult decision to tell the coach about teammates Nick and Alex (Chris Tavarez) bullying a mysterious new kid in school, Cory. Meanwhile, Tyler’s little sister discovers a camera with magical properties that may hold the key to Cory’s past. Gregg Champion is directing the movie from a script by Wesley Bishop. David A. Rosemont, Brian Wells and Jeff Grant are exec producing. Filming on the project, which is being done without any creative involvement by NBC, is slated to begin this week in Atlanta for a premiere eyed for June 11, a Saturday.

P&G and Walmart’s previous 3 movies/backdoor pilots that aired on NBC as time buys, Secrets of the Mountain, The Jensen Project and A Walk in My Shoes, ran on Friday. Secrets of the Mountain, which aired in-season, did respectable business, winning its slot with 7.8 million viewers and a 1.3/5 in 18-49. Jensen, which aired in the summer, did far worse, 3.9 million, 0.9. None of the three has spawned a series. P&G most recently backed 2-hour movie/backdoor pilot Dear Annie, which is slated to air on Fox, also as a time buy. Oller, repped by Gersh and KLWG, recently wrapped the feature Beneath the Darkness.


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