AMC Networks provided their update to the press during the Summer Television Critics Association (TCA) Tour and here are highlights.
Humans, The West, Hell on Wheels, The Making of the Mob:
Humans has been renewed for a second season.
Also ordered straight to series is docudrama The West, Executive Produced by Emmy® Award winning Stephen David Entertainment (The World Was, The Men Who Built America) in association with Robert Redford and Laura Michalchyshyn from Redford’s Sundance Productions (who will oversee the project). Eight one-hour episodes have been ordered which will premiere in the Summer of 2016, with production to start in August.
The West will transpoert viewers into the violent world of coboys, Indians, outlaws and law men, chronicling the intimate and little-known stories of Western legends such as Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Wyatgt Earp, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Spanning the years 1865 to 1890, the limited event series will show how, in the aftermath of the Civil War, the opportunity of land transforms the United States into the “land of opportunity” and creates modern America. “The West” will also feature exclusive interviews with notable names from classic Western films, including James Caan, Tom Selleck, Kiefer Sutherland, Ed Harris and more.
The final seven episodes of the Western drama Hell on Wheels will also air in Summer of 2016.
The Making of the Mob, also Executive Produced by Stephen David Entertainment, has been renewed for eight more episodes for a second season.
The Making of The Mob: Chicago will premiere in 2016 and document the emergence of organized crime in Middle America through the rise and fall of iconic gangster Al Capone. From Capone’s early days in New York running the streets with Lucky Luciano and Bugsy Siegel, to his prolonged war with the Irish gangs of Chicago and his final battles with Eliot Ness and law enforcement, The Making of the Mob: Chicago will tell the true and full story of the Chicago underworld.
The season two renewal follows the success of AMC’s first installment of the series, The Making of The Mob: New York, which has delivered an average of 1.5 million viewers and 626,000 adults 25-54 through six episodes in live+3 ratings. The finale will air Monday, August 3rd at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
The Walking Dead/Fear The Walking Dead:
The Walking Dead‘s previous Executive Producer, David Alpert and Executive Producer & Showrunner Dave Erickson joined Executive Producer & Director Adam Davidson and cast members Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Frank Dillane, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Lorenzo James Henrie and Mercedes Mason made up the panel at the TCA update today.
Fear the Walking Dead was greenlit back in March for two seasons. The series will debut in the U.S. Sunday, August 23rd at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT with an extended 90-minute episode. The premiere will also air on AMC Global channels around the world simultaneously and will then re-air in local time zones during primetime.* A special episode of Talking Dead, hosted by Chris Hardwick (Nerdist), will follow the season one finale on Sunday, October 4th at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT (U.S. only).
Fear the Walking Dead is executive produced by Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, David Alpert and showrunner David Erickson and produced by AMC Studios. The series stars Kim Dickens as Madison, Cliff Curtis as Travis, Frank Dillane as Nick, Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia, Elizabeth Rodriguez as Liza, Ruben Blades as Daniel, Mercedes Mason as Ofelia and Lorenzo James Henrie as Chris.
The session started with some clips from Season 1, Episode 3 of Fear The Walking Dead being shown, depicting Los Angeles starting to fall apart with riots, power failures and spread of an unnamed plague.
Fear the Walking Dead explores the onset of the undead apocalypse through the lens of a fractured family. Set in a city where people come to escape, shield secrets, and bury their pasts, a mysterious outbreak threatens to disrupt what little stability high school guidance counselor Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) and English teacher Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis) have managed to assemble. The everyday pressure of blending two families while dealing with resentful, escapist, and strung out children takes a back seat when society begins to break down. A forced evolution, a necessary survival of the fittest takes hold, and our dysfunctional family must either reinvent themselves or embrace their darker histories. “By the end of Season 1 we know the world has changed and it is the end of the world as we know but it not yet at the point where Rick woke up in Georgia,” said showrunner Erickson of the pace of the new series. “We come to realize the world has changed but our characters are still insulated from all of what has happened,”he added. “Part of what they will see in Season 2 will be that.” He continued to say that the next cycle of episodes will explore how things are fractured for this family as the show progresses, also noting that season 3 has yet to be ordered.
Into the Badlands:
AMC’s new martial arts drama series Into the Badlands will premiere Sunday, November 15th at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. In a land controlled by feudal barons, Into the Badlands tells the story of a ruthless, well-trained warrior named Sunny (Daniel Wu) and a young boy named M.K. (Aramis Knight) who embark on a spiritual journey across a dangerous land. From AMC Studios, the six-part series is created by executive producers/showrunners/writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Shanghai Noon, “Smallville”), and executive produced by Oscar®-nominated producers Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg (Pulp Fiction, Contagion), director David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Nights), fight director Stephen Fung (Tai Chi Zero, House of Fury) and Daniel Wu (Tai Chi Zero).
Into The Badlands is an exciting moment for us in that martial arts is not only a new genre for an AMC series, but also one that has been largely absent from television for 15 years,” said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming for AMC and SundanceTV. “The team behind Into The Badlands, led by showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, is comprised of some of the best martial artists and martial arts filmmakers in the world, and they have crafted a show that over-delivers against two big goals we set for the show: to create a compelling character drama, and to introduce the highest caliber of martial arts filmmaking to a weekly, ongoing series.”
The series premiere will coincide with AMC’s newest movie event, “AMC FightFest,” a two-week martial arts movie marathon beginning Monday, November 2through Friday, November 13. The on-air special event will feature some of the most iconic martial arts films in the history of the genre each weeknight at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.
“In the same way AMC has historically engaged fanbases from horror through Westerns, ‘AMC FightFest’ is an opportunity for us to connect with and serve martial arts fans,” said Tom Halleen, executive vice president of programming and scheduling for AMC and SundanceTV. “We are building an exciting lineup of films that target their passion for the genre as we prepare them for the amazing debut of Into the Badlands.”
Into the Badlands is set centuries from now, where a feudal society has emerged and the strongest and most brutal rose to wealth and power. This area came to be called the Badlands, and is divided among seven rival Barons who control the resources necessary to daily life and enforce their rule with the aid of loyal armies known as Clippers. Clippers enjoy status and comforts the general population can only dream of, and they are willing to sacrifice their lives in service to their Barons. Few Clippers ever live to see their 30th birthday, but Sunny (Daniel Wu) is no ordinary Clipper. Demonstrating lethal proficiency in martial arts, Sunny rose swiftly through the ranks to become Quinn’s (Marton Csokas) Head Clipper and most trusted advisor.
For decades, Quinn has been unchallenged as the Badlands’ most powerful Baron, but the territory’s newest Baron, The Widow (Emily Beecham), has begun staging brazen attacks on Quinn’s transport vehicles and is testing his appetite for a fight. One of those attacks leads Sunny to M.K. (Aramis Knight), a teenage boy who has survived a deadly ambush. Sunny soon comes to understand that the teen harbors a dark secret and has a hefty bounty on his head. As The Widow continues her campaign against Quinn, the destinies of the stoic assassin and the impetuous teenager become intertwined. In their evolution as teacher and student, each will discover his true purpose; together, they will embark on an odyssey that could mean the difference between chaos and enlightenment for everyone in the Badlands.
Into the Badlands stars Daniel Wu (Tai Chi Zero) as Sunny; Marton Csokas (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) as Quinn; Aramis Knight (The Dark Knight Rises) as M.K.; Oliver Stark (“Luther”) as Ryder; Emily Beecham (28 Weeks Later) as Widow; Orla Brady (“Dr. Who,” “Fringe”) as Lydia; Sarah Bolger (“Once Upon a Time,” “The Tudors”) as Jade; Ally Ioannides (“Parenthood”) as Tilda; and Madeleine Mantock (Edge of Tomorrow) as Veil.
BBC America:
Doctor Who was hot on everyone’s minds. Executive Producer Steven Moffat was not ready to reveal what role Maisie Williams will have this new season but did tease “she isn’t playing a returning character or someone in the Doctor’s past. Her role will develop in an unexpected way.”
Doctor Who returns to BBC America on September 19 and audiences who attended San Diego International Comic-Con earlier this month were able to see Williams appear i the latter part of the trailer.
Fathom Events has been able to experience this year on September 15-16 the two-part Season 8 finale ‘Doctor Who: Dark Water/Death in Heaven‘ in RealD 3D and Dolby Atmos, along with a special prequel scene for the first episode of Season 9, The Doctor’s Meditation and an exclusive interview with Doctor Who stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman that is hosted by Wil Wheaton. This leads to the question of whether or not a Doctor Who will be made into a movie or not.
Moffat addressed his concerns,“First that would be up to the BBC. What are we going to do? Shut down for a year and make a movie? Does everyone want that — a whole movie and not a series? If there’s a movie, you can’t have a different doctor in the movie — that would be incredibly damning to the franchise.”
BBC America today also announced two new co-productions – the first co-developed series under the wide-ranging, creative partnership between BBC Worldwide and AMC Networks that was announced late last year.* Undercover, a gripping political thriller from acclaimed writer Peter Moffat (Silk, Criminal Justice) starring Sophie Okonedo (Criminal Justice) and Adrian Lester (Hustle), and Thirteen, a compelling contemporary mystery from rising star Marnie Dickens, will both air on BBC America in 2016.
Sarah Barnett, President and General Manager, BBC America, also announced the first tranche of an extensive original scripted development slate including:
- Dirk Gently,an adaptation of Douglas Adams’ (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) wildly successful comic novel, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, is an anthology series set in the unexpected world of the hyper, absurd, ridiculous Dirk Gently. With an utterly fresh, comically self-aware tone, this series is equally sincere in its danger, humor, violence and drama. Penned by Max Landis – the mind behind cult classic Chronicle – this series is produced by IDW, Circle of Confusion and Ideate for BBC America.
- An untitled project from prolific filmmaker Sebastian Silva. Using unconventional storytelling – including real people – Silva explores humorous, absurd and uncomfortably raw stories of 21st century dating in our impulsive era of swiping and liking. Sebastian Silva is the writer/director of 2015 Sundance and Berlinale selection Nasty Baby starring Kristen Wiig and Golden Globe®-nominated The Maid. A24 is attached to produce.
- Moths, follows a young American woman whose reckless quest for thrill and adventure takes her to the epicenter of Tokyo’s Shibuya sub-culture scene. After an unthinkable crime occurs, she finds herself face-to-face with an unfamiliar, ancient and intractable world. Tony Wood and Cineflix are attached to produce.
- The Greater Good from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Dana Shapiro (Murderball) is the provocative, fictionalized story of Cora Jones, lone survivor of the Jonestown massacre where 918 of her fellow cult members died. She was saved, she believes, to rid the world of false prophets but, as her own fame as an atheist preacher grows, she begins to morph into the very thing she’s been railing against. This compelling drama about faith, family, hubris, paranoia and healing is also a cautionary tale about the rise and fall of an American leader. It is produced by Lakeshore Entertainment (Underworld).
- An untitled comic-noir thriller from Anders August set in a 1950s resort follows the social climbing of a disarming young woman who turns out to be a dangerous sociopath. Anders August wrote the Oscar-nominated film The Pig and was executive producer of Follow the Money which premiered at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival. Michael London (The Illusionist, Sideways) is attached to produce.
- An untitled project from Anna Winger. A family drama, an amped up adventure, and a celebration of the city of Berlin today, this journey is a darkly humorous exploration of colliding worlds, the unifying bonds of loss, and the dangerous pursuit of answers in a utopian city. Anna Winger is the creator of international series, Deutschland ’83.
Barnett, commented: “The scripted TV explosion in recent years has affirmed over and over that strong visionaries are the heart of creative and commercial success. At BBC America we’re doubling down on extraordinary creator-led projects.”
The two new co-productions, Undercover and Thirteen, will join BBC America’s slate of original scripted shows that includes the iconic series Doctor Who (returns September 19); Orphan Black (returns for a fourth season in 2016); The Last Kingdom (premieres October 10) and Luther (fourth installment premieres winter 2015).
“The BBC is a creative powerhouse and we’re delighted to partner with them on these provocative, contemporary stories,” said Barnett. “Peter Moffat is one of the UK’s most vibrant and acclaimed screenwriters, while new talent Marnie Dickens brings a singular voice and perspective to her first original series. We can’t wait to launch these shows on the network.”
Undercover, a six part limited series, features lead character Maya (Okonedo) who is about to become the first black woman to hold the highest ranking public prosecutor role in England.
Just as her life comes under intense public scrutiny she discovers her husband Nick (Lester), and the father of her children, has been lying to her for years. Is he concealing an affair, or is it something altogether more sinister? If she digs up his real past will she jeopardize her own future? What price do you pay for uncovering lies? And who wants her in the top job, and why?
Peter Moffat says: “I’m relishing the prospect of returning to the contemporary British political landscape to look at where we stand and how we got here. Undercover is a thriller about identity, trust and the struggle to lead a morally principled personal and professional life, while working up close with the police, press, politicians and criminals who have so corrupted and damaged public life over the last 20 years.”
Undercover is executive produced by Hilary Salmon, Head of BBC Drama Production England, for BBC ONE and BBC America. She previously worked with Moffat on his hit legal series Silk and Bafta-winning Criminal Justice.
Thirteen is a new original five part mystery thriller which follows Ivy Moxham (Jodie Comer) on the day she escapes from the cellar that has been her prison for the last 13 years. It’s the day she’ll return to her home, to her family, to her life. It’s the day that is only the beginning.
Thirteen is an emotional rollercoaster that explores how to pick up the threads of a life half-lived and how to survive as a family under the greatest pressure: how to feel again, chance love again. It is a psychological drama about who to trust when you can’t even trust yourself.
Asked about her first original series commission, Marnie Dickens says: “I’ve always been fascinated by the resilience of the human spirit in even the most extreme situations and am thrilled to have the opportunity to bring this story to life on the BBC and BBC America.”
Thirteen is produced by BBC In-House Drama Production England and Executive Produced by Elizabeth Kilgarrif for BBC Three and BBC America.
