Nellie Andreeva

TNT is saddling up for Gateway, handing out a cast-contingent pilot order to the action/adventure project from Bruce C. McKenna and Danny Cannon. The project, produced by Warner Horizon, was first announced at Turner’s upfront in May as part of TNT’s development slate. Set in the town of the same name in Colorado in the 1880s, Gateway tells the story of three brothers who step in to save their town when their sheriff father is murdered, pitting them against a corrupt cattle baron determined to make the town his own. McKenna (Band of Brothers, The Pacific) wrote the script. He is executive producing with CSI director/executive producer Cannon, who is also attached to direct the pilot. Also expected to be involved is Deran Serafian (House). The project is set in the same time period as AMC’s upcoming series Hell on Wheels, which takes place during the building of the Union Pacific Railroad in the 1860s. Additionally, Reconstruction, set in a Missouri town during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, was developed at FX and went to pilot at NBC this past development season. The genre’s TV renaissance is in stark contrast to its struggles on the feature side following Cowboys & Aliens‘ disappointing box-office performance. Disney has pulled the plug (for now) on The Lone Ranger, the Gore Verbinski-directed period Western that was to star Johnny Depp as Tonto. And Universal scrapped its ambitious adaptation of Stephen King’s Western-ish The Dark Tower. Of TNT’s previous crop of pilots, two, Perception and Dallas, went to series, and two, Bird Dog and The Rabbit Factory, didn’t.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.