You are viewing the archive: “Frank Spotnitz”

Frank Spotnitz To Adapt Ridley Scott-Produced Mini ‘The Man In The High Castle’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday February 11, 2013 @ 3:56am PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Frank Spotnitz, Ridley Scott, Syfy, The Man In The High Castle

The miniseries adaptation of The Man In The High Castle was originally announced as a project back in 2010. At the time, the four-parter based on Philip K Dick‘s novel, was to be a Headline Pictures/Electric Shepherd/Scott Free production for the BBC, scripted by British playwright Howard Brenton and sold internationally by FremantleMedia. Some of the puzzle pieces have since shifted. Syfy said today it has sealed a deal to adapt the Hugo Award-winning tome with Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files, Hunted) attached to write and exec produce. Ridley Scott’s Scott Free will produce with Headline, Electric Shepherd Productions (the production arm of Dick’s estate) and FremantleMedia International. Producers are Ridley Scott and Stewart Mackinnon. Spotnitz will write the first two hours and supervise the writing of the second two hours, Syfy said today.

Dick’s novel is an alternate history story set in a world in which Nazi Germany and Japan were victorious in the second World War. The year is 1962 and the Axis Powers occupy the U.S., where fascism rules and the few surviving Jews hide under assumed names. Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner was adapted from Dick’s Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

Comments (8)

Cinemax Eyes New Incarnation Of ‘Hunted’ With Frank Spotnitz And Melissa George

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday November 15, 2012 @ 8:15am PSTTags: BBC, Cinemax, Frank Spotnitz
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC-Cinemax series Hunted won’t go beyond its current freshman season after BBC One opted not to renew the espionage drama for a second season. But Cinemax is working with series creator Frank Spotnitz on a new incarnation of the show about spy Sam Hunter (Melissa George). “We are making plans with creator and executive producer Frank Spotnitz and star Melissa George to present a new chapter in the Sam Hunter mythology,” Kary Antholis, President, HBO Miniseries and Cinemax Programming, said in a statement to Deadline. “We are very pleased with what Hunted has done for Cinemax’s brand and are very excited about what lies ahead.”

Because of the project’s setup –  BBC originally commissioned eight episodes from Shine-owned British production company Kudos Film and Television before Cinemax came on board as producer/U.S. distributor — I hear continuing the series in its current form proved impossible without partner BBC. That has led to Cinemax brass looking for another way to keep the premise and the Sam Hunter character alive while also assuming greater creative control. In a complex co-production agreement like the one on Hunted, it is hard for each of the partners to realize their vision for the show as decisions are often made by compromise. Additionally, for a pay cable network, doing a series with a public broadcaster like the BBC imposes certain restrictions on the content that could be featured. Read More »

Comments 39