Nellie Andreeva

After relaunching original primetime programming with three action series — Strike Back, The Transporter and The Sector, all done as international co-productions — Cinemax is taking a different approach with another drama project eyed for a series order, Banshee. The project, described as Walking Tall meets History of Violence, did not come to Cinemax via the international co-production route but was developed at sister pay cable network HBO and has Alan Ball attached as an executive producer. According to the LA Times, Banshee, written by Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler, is set in a small town in Pennsylvania Amish Country and features an enigmatic ex-con/martial arts expert posing as a murdered sheriff who imposes his own brand of justice while also cooking up plans that serve his own interests. Banshee, executive produced by Ball, Tropper, Schickler and Peter Macdissi, is eying a spring start of production. It will not keep Ball away from his hit HBO series True Blood. Ball is already working with the show’s writing staff on scripts for Season 5, whose official pickup is imminent.

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