AMC Greenlights Pilots for Two New Crime and Legal Series
Six proposed series were vying for AMC‘s consideration a few weeks ago — and now the network’s announced that two of them have been greenlit to pilot.
The first, “Low Winter Sun,” is an adaptation of the 2006 two-part UK series of the same name starring Mark Strong and written by Simon Donald. The action’s being moved from Edinburgh to Detroit, where the murder of a cop by a fellow detective sets of a string of events that pulls him into the city’s underwork. Chris Mundy (of “Criminal Minds” and “Cold Case”) will write and executive produce the series as well as serve as the showrunner.
The second, the “Untitled LaGravenese & Goldwyn Project,” is a legal thriller about a District Attorney who discovers new evidence prompting the reopening of a major murder cast — according to AMC, “the series is an exploration of personal morality and how people struggle with the shades of grey found in the absence of a simple, ordered moral universe.” Richard LaGravenese (who wrote “The Fisher King”) will write and executive produce the series, while Tony Goldwyn (“A Walk on the Moon”) will direct as well as executive produce.
AMC’s head of programming Joel Stillerman says in the announcement that “Richard and Tony have collaborated on an explosive piece of storytelling that explores race and capital punishment in a way that transcends the legal genre; and Chris has captured the strength and intensity of the source material to create a muscular, Detroit-based character piece that explores the themes of such diverse stories as ‘Crime and Punishment’ and ‘Heat.'”
AMC’s been picky with its pilot orders — this is the first time the network’s greenlit two scripted shows at once, and last year they didn’t pick up any new series to pilot. There’s a very good chance that these two will make it to a screen near you — the network’s so far never not picked up a pilot to series.
