Rob Bowman news
Al Forno
Feb. 19, 2004
Helmer circles 'Elektra'
Bowman to bring Penn's script to screens
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Eyeing a May start, Fox and Regency Enterprises are negotiating with Rob Bowman
to direct "Elektra," a "Daredevil" spinoff that will star Jennifer Garner.
Horseshoe Bay partners Mark Steven Johnson and Gary Foster are producing with
Marvel's Avi Arad.
Bowman, who made his feature directing debut for Fox on "X-Files," last helmed
the actioner "Reign of Fire." He will direct an "Elektra" script written by Zak
Penn that will put Garner back into the skin-tight Spandex costume, and which
fits into her hiatus from the ABC series "Alias." Garner recently completed the
comedy "13 Going on 30."
While a "Daredevil" sequel might be made in the future, Fox, Regency and the
producers began last year in plotting a second chapter for Elektra, the
curvaceous assassin who was nearly killed in the Ben Affleck starrer that
Johnson directed.
The plot of "Elektra" will draw heavily from the graphic novels "The Elektra
Assassin" and "The Elektra Saga," as she battles the Hand, an organization of
killers that trained her and then betrayed her.
Casting for other parts will begin shortly. One major character will be Stick,
a martial arts trainer who is a venerable Marvel Comics figure.
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WB 'X'-es Bowman in to helm 'Shadows'
Peacock revs 'SUV,' UPN takes 'Second'
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
NBC and UPN greenlit two more laffers Wednesday, while director Rob Rob Bowman
("The X-Files""The X-Files") has signed up to helm the WB's new version of
"Dark Shadows."
Peacock pilot "Beverly Hills SUV" comes from exec producer Larry Wilmore
(Whoopi").
Laffer, from NBC Studios (where Wilmore is set up), is a workplace comedy
revolving around salespeople at an upscale car lot in Beverly Hills.
Over at UPN, "Second Time Around" comes from scribes Ralph Farquhar ("Moesha")
and Michelle Listenbee-Brown ("The Practice").
Farquhar and Claude Brooks ("Claude's Crib") will exec produce, while
Listenbee-Brown is on board to co-exec produce. Sitcom, from Paramount Network
TV and C to the B Prods., revolves around a divorced couple who decide to take
another crack at marriage.
Boris Kodjoe ("Brown Sugar") and Nicole Ari Parker ("Remember The Titans") -
both of whom appeared in the Showtime series version of "Soul Food" - will
reunite to play the couple in "Second Time Around."
Meanwhile, "Dark Shadows" is the latest of a long line of television thrillers
to be directed by Bowman. In addition to helming both the feature "X-Files" and
episodes of the cult TV show, Bowman has also directed episodes of "The Lone
Gunmen," "MANTIS" and "VR5."
"Dark Shadows" comes from Warner Bros. TV and John Wells Prods.; Wells, Dan
Curtis and Mark Verheiden exec produce.