Well it looks like all hope in seeing a TV-version of the Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming comic-series Powers is not lost. Variety is reporting that FX hasn’t pulled the plug just yet. The series has been in development hell for quite sometime now.
A pilot was shot last year but rejected by FX topper John Landgraf, who asked scribe Charles “Chick” Eglee for a rewrite. The network had plans to do a reshoot of the pilot — with a completely new cast — but those plans have not gone forward and there is no immediate start date to put it back in front of the camera.
Jason Patric and Lucy Punch, who co-stars in the new Fox sitcom “Ben and Kate,” were in the original cast. Others in the ensemble were Charles S. Dutton, Titus Welliver and Carly Foulkes.
For those not familiar with the series, it follows homicide detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, who investigate crimes involving “powers” (people with superpowers). The series began in 2000 under Image comics before shifting to Marvel’s Icon imprint in 2004.
I’m sad to see the Christian Walker part that Jason Patric was set to play being recast. I’m a fan of Patric and would love to see him in more stuff. I’m okay with Lucy Punch’s role being recast as I have never been a big fan of hers. If you’re not familiar her name you’ve probably seen her before in movies like Bad Teacher and Dinner For Schmucks. Hopefully the powers that be (no pun intended) can get some quality actors for the parts now that they are recasting.
I’ll be keeping a look out for updates as they come out so be sure to check back.
Publicity shot of Jason Patric as Christian Walker from the ill-fated pilot
UPDATE: It appears that FX President John Landgraf has confirmed that this is happening and they have ordered four episodes! Earlier this week Bendis tweeted that he had read a script for a third episode of the show and Landgraf told IGN:
“Yeah. Brian has the benefit of reading scripts that I haven’t read! But what we ended up doing is hiring Chic Eglee, who had done the work on the pilot we shot. Not only to rewrite the pilot that we had shot, but to do three more episodes and put together a writing staff. So I think Brian has now read those scripts. I haven’t seen them yet. So we are going to end up having four scripts for Powers. And if we elect to move forward, yeah, I think we will just go back and reshoot the pilot from scratch, with a new cast in all probability.” So, does that mean we won’t see Jason Patric and Lucy Punch as Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim? “I think there’s a possibility that some of the original cast members might return. Jason Patric certainly wants to look at the material and wants to render an opinion about whether he still wants to be involved in the project. But it’s just as likely, I think, that we’d just start from scratch and reshoot it.”
It looks as if the show really is moving forward.