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It’s Official: NBC Announces Pirate Series From Neil Cross, Parkes/MacDonald And Reliance

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday May 14, 2012 @ 9:35am PDTTags: Big Deals TV, NBC, Neil Cross
Nellie Andreeva

Neil Cross Crossbones NBCUPDATE, 1:15 PM: NBC said production will begin in the fall on Crossbones, which features “an unexpected moral center where one can’t be sure whether the pirates or the British crown are the villains,” the network says. It will center on Tom Lowe, an undercover assassin who is sent to the pirates’ haven to take down the brilliant and charismatic Blackbeard. But the closer Lowe gets, the more he can’t help but admire the political ideals of of the pirate, whose thirst for knowledge knows no bounds and no law. Blackbeard is a man with many villainous rivals and one great weakness — a passionately driven woman whom he cannot deny. Ted Gold is executive producing with Cross, Parkes and MacDonald and Universal Television is among the production companies.

Related: Reliance Starts U.S. TV Production Company, Nears Series Order At NBC For Pirate Drama

PREVIOUS, 9:35 AM: As we predicted last week, NBC today announced a 10-episode pirate drama series written by Luther creator Neil Cross and produced by feature producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, who have a first-look deal with the network. The project, titled Crossbones, hails from Georgeville Television, an independent TV studio formed recently by producer and former Heyday Films executive Marc Rosen (Harry Potter), and Motion Picture Capital, the finance arm of Reliance Entertainment. The series is based on the book The Republic Of Pirates by Colin Woodard. Set during the 10-year “Golden Age of Piracy” from 1715 to 1725, it centers on legendary English pirate Blackbeard, following him and some of the world’s most notorious pirates as they forge their own rogue nation, called New Providence, which became the first democracy in the Americas.

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UPDATE: Reliance Starts U.S. TV Production Company, Nears Drama Series Order At NBC

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday May 9, 2012 @ 11:23am PDTTags: Big Deals TV, NBC, Neil Cross, Reliance
Nellie Andreeva

Reliance Republic Of PiratesEXCLUSIVE UPDATED: So far, Reliance has been known in Hollywood for its film investments, primarily as financier of Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios. Now the Indian media giant is venturing into American television, backing a new 10-episode pirate series for NBC eyed for a March premiere, which will likely be announced at the network’s upfront presentation Monday. I’ve learned that NBC is finalizing a deal for a straight-to-series order to the period drama, which will be produced by Georgeville Television, an independent TV studio formed recently by producer and former Heyday Films executive Marc Rosen (Harry Potter), and Motion Picture Capital, the finance arm of Reliance Entertainment. GVTV, which has operated quietly for the past three months, has the capability to fully-finance major network and cable scripted series, with Republic Of Pirates being its first project.

Neil Cross Republic Of Pirates

Luther creator Neil Cross is nearing a deal to write the project and executive produce it with Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. The drama was originally set up at NBC last June under Parkes/MacDonald Prods’ first-look deal with the network. It became the first drama buy for then-new NBC chief Bob Greenblatt and his team last summer, with Jim Hart and Amanda Wells brought in to write it. Cross will now write the project under his recently inked overall deal with Universal TV. The series is based on the book The Republic Of Pirates by Colin Woodard. Set during the 10-year “Golden Age of Piracy” from 1715 to 1725, it follows some of the world’s most notorious pirates as they forge their own rogue nation, called New Providence, which became the first democracy in the Americas. Read More »

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‘Luther’ Creator Neil Cross Signs Overall Deal With Universal Television

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday March 26, 2012 @ 2:25pm PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Luther, Neil Cross, Universal Television
Nellie Andreeva

Neil Cross LutherEXCLUSIVE: British novelist-screenwriter Neil Cross, creator of the BBC series Luther, is coming to American television. In his first formal U.S. TV pact, Cross has signed a two-year overall deal with Universal Television to develop new … Read More »

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‘Luther’ Creator Neil Cross Takes On ‘Day Of The Triffids’ For Ghost House

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday February 29, 2012 @ 10:22am PSTTags: Ghost House Pictures, Neil Cross
Mike Fleming

Neil Cross has been set by Ghost House Pictures to write The Day of the Triffids, based on the classic sci-fi horror novel written by John Wyndam and the 1962 film Invasion of the Triffids.

In the original film, a meteorite … Read More »

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