New take for 'Saint' series
Ian.Di...@gmail.com
"The Saint" is marching back to television via a contemporary take on
the Leslie Charteris' books, with James Purefoy in talks to topline as
the debonair international thief Simon Templar.
Producers Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana, writer Jorge Zamacona,
feature producer Bill Macdonald, Roger Moore -- who played Templar in
the 1960s British series -- and his son Geoffrey Moore are all
involved in the project.
Levinson is set to direct the two-hour TV movie/backdoor pilot, which
will be produced independently and then shopped to the networks.
The project is backed by Nehst Studios, a financing, production and
distribution company that recently partnered with Lexicon Filmed
Entertainment to share $250 million from private-equity sources to
finance features, TV series and Web series.
Macdonald has been associated with "Saint" on and off for 17 years. In
1991, he acquired the rights to the books for producer Robert Evans.
The two went on to produce the 1997 feature starring Val Kilmer as the
dapper adventurer.
In 2004, Macdonald teamed with Zamacona and Roger and Geoffrey Moore
to bring the "Saint" franchise to television. The four formed Templar
Entertainment Group, through which they acquired the TV rights to
Charteris' novels.
The new "Saint" series was created by Zamacona, who penned the pilot
script, and Macdonald. The project was originally set up at TNT, which
announced it as part of its 2007 development slate last March (HR
3/13).
TNT later passed on it, and the rights reverted to the producers.
Macdonald and Zamacona might have gone the traditional route -- trying
to find a new network home for the show -- if it hadn't been for the
writers strike.
With development activity in Hollywood screeching to a halt and
Macdonald and Zamacona joining the picket lines, the producers began
to mull producing the pilot and the potential series independently and
seeking a network partner later. They were well into raising financing
for the project when the strike ended.
"The strike changed our strategy because no one knew how long it was
going to be, but producing the project independently gives us a lot
more creative freedom," Macdonald said.
During the strike, Zamacona approached Levinson and Fontana, who had
given him his first writing job on "Homicide: Life on the Street." The
two came on board to executive produce "Saint" with Macdonald,
Zamacona and Geoffrey Moore, and Levinson agreed to direct.
"One of the things we lost a little bit of in the movie but want to
bring to the TV series is that Simon Templar is very funny character
with great lines and situation humor, and I don't think there is
anybody better than Levinson to tackle that," Macdonald said.
The producers then went after Purefoy, who recently starred on the HBO/
BBC series "Rome," which was co-created and executive produced by
Macdonald.
Casting is under way for the other key parts in the pilot: Inspector
Claud Eustace Teal, the Interpol agent in charge of tracking Templar;
Templar's romantic interest/assistant, Patricia Holm; and his enemy-
turned-partner in crime, Baldwin Aleppo.
Filming on the two-hour telefilm, whose script was reworked after the
strike, is expected to begin in April in Budapest, Hungary, New York
and Puerto Rico.
The project is funded for seasons to come, Nehst founder and chairman
Larry Meistrich said.
"We are committed to financing the pilot and deficiting the potential
series," he said.
Added CEO Ari Friedman, "I think it's a really good time for a project
like this, and we are confident we can find a home for it."
The two-hour movie/backdoor pilot model was used successfully to
launch an updated version of another classic action-adventure series,
"Knight Rider," which is expected to be picked up to series by NBC
after the movie scored big ratings last month.
"Saint" was packaged by CAA. Levinson is repped by ICM.
Roger Moore starred on, produced and directed several episodes of the
original British "Saint," which ran on ITV from 1962-69 and in
syndication in the U.S. from 1963-66 and as a summer series on NBC
from 1967-69.
In the past 10 years, there have been two attempts by broadcast
networks to remake the series. In 2000, UPN teamed with director John
McTiernan and ATG, while ABC took a stab at the franchise in 2004 with
writer Stephen Nathan and "American Idol" producer FremantleMedia
North America, which owned the rights at the time.
Jeremy
wrote:
>"One of the things we lost a little bit of in the movie but want to
>bring to the TV series is that Simon Templar is very funny character
>with great lines and situation humor,
Yes I think the humour was lost more than just a little bit in the
movie, so a bit more wit would be good.
>The producers then went after Purefoy, who recently starred on the HBO/
>BBC series "Rome," which was co-created and executive produced by
>Macdonald.
I can see that James Purefoy might work well in the role, so that's
another positive.
>Casting is under way for the other key parts in the pilot: Inspector
>Claud Eustace Teal, the Interpol agent in charge of tracking Templar;
>Templar's romantic interest/assistant, Patricia Holm; and his enemy-
>turned-partner in crime, Baldwin Aleppo.
But now my heart begins to sink - Teal an "Interpol agent"? and who is
Baldwin Aleppo???????
>The project is funded for seasons to come, Nehst founder and chairman
>Larry Meistrich said.
>
>"We are committed to financing the pilot and deficiting the potential
>series," he said.
>
>Added CEO Ari Friedman, "I think it's a really good time for a project
>like this, and we are confident we can find a home for it."
>
>The two-hour movie/backdoor pilot model was used successfully to
>launch an updated version of another classic action-adventure series,
>"Knight Rider," which is expected to be picked up to series by NBC
>after the movie scored big ratings last month.
And the rest just seems like industry bravado - until they actually
start filming I won't let myself get excited about this news.
Here's hoping though.