An adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s classic novel “Slaughterhouse-Five” is in development at Epix, an individual with knowledge of production tells TheWrap.
The potential series hails from Universal Cable Productions and Syfy’s “Happy!” showrunner, Patrick Macmanus.
Vonnegut’s novel tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a World War 2 soldier who becomes “unstuck in time” and travels back and forth through his past, present and future. “Slaughterhouse-Five” explores the idea of predestination versus free will, the effects of war, and our perception of time.
Also Read: Former Epix Executive Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Fraud, Identity Theft
Macmanus will write and executive produce, along with Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Entertainment, Jon Brown for Ensemble Entertainment and Bradley Yonover under the Brand Y Media banner. Emmy-nominated “Handmaid’s Tale” director Kari Skogland will sit behind the camera for he project.
If the adaptation is ordered to series, it would...
The potential series hails from Universal Cable Productions and Syfy’s “Happy!” showrunner, Patrick Macmanus.
Vonnegut’s novel tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a World War 2 soldier who becomes “unstuck in time” and travels back and forth through his past, present and future. “Slaughterhouse-Five” explores the idea of predestination versus free will, the effects of war, and our perception of time.
Also Read: Former Epix Executive Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Fraud, Identity Theft
Macmanus will write and executive produce, along with Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Entertainment, Jon Brown for Ensemble Entertainment and Bradley Yonover under the Brand Y Media banner. Emmy-nominated “Handmaid’s Tale” director Kari Skogland will sit behind the camera for he project.
If the adaptation is ordered to series, it would...
- 8/7/2018
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
Universal Cable Productions’ “Slaughterhouse-Five” series is now in development at Epix, Variety has learned exclusively.
Based on Kurt Vonnegut’s classic novel of the same name, the project focuses on Billy Pilgrim, a WW2 soldier who becomes “unstuck in time” and travels back and forth through his past, present and future. The novel explores the idea of predestination versus free will, the impacts of war, as well as the perception of time itself.
Ucp will produce. The series hails from writer and executive producer Patrick Macmanus, who is currently the showrunner on “Happy!” at Syfy. Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Entertainment will also executive produce along with Jon Brown of Ensemble Entertainment and Bradley Yonover of Brand Y Media. Kari Skogland, who recently secured an Emmy nomination for her work on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” is attached to direct.
Variety exclusively reported back in December that Ucp was developing the series.
Based on Kurt Vonnegut’s classic novel of the same name, the project focuses on Billy Pilgrim, a WW2 soldier who becomes “unstuck in time” and travels back and forth through his past, present and future. The novel explores the idea of predestination versus free will, the impacts of war, as well as the perception of time itself.
Ucp will produce. The series hails from writer and executive producer Patrick Macmanus, who is currently the showrunner on “Happy!” at Syfy. Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Entertainment will also executive produce along with Jon Brown of Ensemble Entertainment and Bradley Yonover of Brand Y Media. Kari Skogland, who recently secured an Emmy nomination for her work on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” is attached to direct.
Variety exclusively reported back in December that Ucp was developing the series.
- 8/7/2018
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Universal Cable Productions has set four female directors to helm key pilots and new series for the studio — Steph Green, Ana Lily Amirpour, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, and Kari Skogland.
The hirings are significant, given continued industry trends toward underrepresentation for female directors. According to data from NBCUniversal research, of the 242 scripted pilots across broadcast, cable, and streaming that currently have directors attached, only 17% are women. For current series, the women make up 21% of all directors across television and streaming.
According to Ucp co-president Dawn Olmstead, the studio has long seen pilots as an area of focus for female inclusion at the director level.
“This wasn’t a place where we needed to start an initiative to open people’s minds to giving more of these pilot swings to female directors,” Olmstead said. “It was kind of in the ether already — which for someone like me was awesome, or else I...
The hirings are significant, given continued industry trends toward underrepresentation for female directors. According to data from NBCUniversal research, of the 242 scripted pilots across broadcast, cable, and streaming that currently have directors attached, only 17% are women. For current series, the women make up 21% of all directors across television and streaming.
According to Ucp co-president Dawn Olmstead, the studio has long seen pilots as an area of focus for female inclusion at the director level.
“This wasn’t a place where we needed to start an initiative to open people’s minds to giving more of these pilot swings to female directors,” Olmstead said. “It was kind of in the ether already — which for someone like me was awesome, or else I...
- 8/1/2018
- by Daniel Holloway
- Variety Film + TV
AP English teachers and normal Kurt Vonnegut fans can continue to get pumped: Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley has signed onto and pushed the Cat's Cradle TV project that FX and Im Global are producing further into development, according to reports. Hawley will write and Ep for the adaptation, which will be based on Vonnegut's satirical novel of the same name. Brad Yonover and Elkins Entertainment's Sandi Love will also co-ep, THR notes. Still no word on a hard timeline or onscreen personnel info for the project — but hey, ice-nine, Bokononism, and San Lorenzo weren't all built in a day, so this is a good start.
- 11/19/2015
- by Sean Fitz-Gerald
- Vulture
"Fargo" showrunner Noah Hawley has come onboard to develop the limited event series adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's iconic 1963 novel "Cat's Cradle" for FX.
The story involves a man becoming involved with the children of a Nobel laureate physicist who worked on the Manhattan project. The action is mostly set on a Caribbean island populated by a strange cult.
The macguffin of the story is a substance created by the physicist for the military called ice-nine, an alternative structure of water that is solid at room temperature and causes any liquid water it comes into contact with to solidify.
It was abandoned due to the danger it poses - if any amount of the substance comes in contact with any body of water linked to the ocean it would literally freeze the world's seas instantly and wipe out all life on Earth.
Hawley will pen and executive produce the project,...
The story involves a man becoming involved with the children of a Nobel laureate physicist who worked on the Manhattan project. The action is mostly set on a Caribbean island populated by a strange cult.
The macguffin of the story is a substance created by the physicist for the military called ice-nine, an alternative structure of water that is solid at room temperature and causes any liquid water it comes into contact with to solidify.
It was abandoned due to the danger it poses - if any amount of the substance comes in contact with any body of water linked to the ocean it would literally freeze the world's seas instantly and wipe out all life on Earth.
Hawley will pen and executive produce the project,...
- 11/18/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Kurt Vonnegut‘s fourth novel is coming to TV. Cat’s Cradle, the arms race satire that also features elements of science fiction, is being developed for TV by Im Global Television, with Brad Yonover and Elkins Entertainment’s Sandi Love set to co-exec produce. The novel features a writer who becomes involved with the children of one of the creators […]
The post Kurt Vonnegut Novel ‘Cat’s Cradle’ in Development for TV appeared first on /Film.
The post Kurt Vonnegut Novel ‘Cat’s Cradle’ in Development for TV appeared first on /Film.
- 5/1/2015
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Im Global Television has announced plan for a small screen adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's iconic 1963 novel "Cat's Cradle."
The story involves a man becoming involved with the children of a Nobel laureate physicist who worked on the Manhattan project. The action is mostly set on a Caribbean island populated by a strange cult.
The macguffin of the story is a substance created by the physicist for the military called ice-nine, an alternative structure of water that is solid at room temperature and causes any liquid water it comes into contact with to solidify.
It was abandoned due to the danger it poses - if any amount of the substance comes in contact with any body of water linked to the ocean it would literally freeze the world's seas instantly and wipe out all life on Earth.
"Cat's Cradle" will be developed by Brad Yonover and Sandi Love who will co-executive produce.
The story involves a man becoming involved with the children of a Nobel laureate physicist who worked on the Manhattan project. The action is mostly set on a Caribbean island populated by a strange cult.
The macguffin of the story is a substance created by the physicist for the military called ice-nine, an alternative structure of water that is solid at room temperature and causes any liquid water it comes into contact with to solidify.
It was abandoned due to the danger it poses - if any amount of the substance comes in contact with any body of water linked to the ocean it would literally freeze the world's seas instantly and wipe out all life on Earth.
"Cat's Cradle" will be developed by Brad Yonover and Sandi Love who will co-executive produce.
- 4/30/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Im Global Television co-founders Stuart Ford and Mark Stern have announced a slew of new projects including an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s classic “Cat’s Cradle,” which takes a satirical view of war, religion and scientific advances. The project will be developed with a high-level writer/showrunner, executive producer Brad Yonover, and Elkins Entertainment’s Sandi Love, who will co-executive produce. “Cat’s Cradle’ is a true classic, not just in the science fiction genre, but in literature overall. We couldn’t be more honored or excited to adapt this seminal work for television,” said Stern. Im Global Television...
- 4/30/2015
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
Co-founders Stuart Ford and Mark Stern have announced a raft of new product led by a swoop on rights to Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical bestseller.
Im Global Television plans to hire a “high-level writer-showrunner” on Cat’s Cradle. Brad Yonover is on board as executive producer and Elkins Entertainment’s Sandi Love will serve as co-executive producer.
The company has also obtained rights to the Darkover sci-fi-fantasy series by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Ilene Kahn Power and Elizabeth Stanley are the executive producers.
Im Global Television is out to buyers with the crime drama Den Of Thieves to star Carla Gugino. Trigger Street’s Dana Brunetti and Kevin Spacey will serve as executive producers and Sebastian Gutierrez has written the first 10 episodes and plans to direct.
The company is also developing the six-hour mini-series 1906, which chronicles the San Francisco earthquake and fire of that year. Writer David S Ward will serve as executive producer with director Martin Campbell. Mark...
Im Global Television plans to hire a “high-level writer-showrunner” on Cat’s Cradle. Brad Yonover is on board as executive producer and Elkins Entertainment’s Sandi Love will serve as co-executive producer.
The company has also obtained rights to the Darkover sci-fi-fantasy series by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Ilene Kahn Power and Elizabeth Stanley are the executive producers.
Im Global Television is out to buyers with the crime drama Den Of Thieves to star Carla Gugino. Trigger Street’s Dana Brunetti and Kevin Spacey will serve as executive producers and Sebastian Gutierrez has written the first 10 episodes and plans to direct.
The company is also developing the six-hour mini-series 1906, which chronicles the San Francisco earthquake and fire of that year. Writer David S Ward will serve as executive producer with director Martin Campbell. Mark...
- 4/30/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Demonstrating yet again the creative pitfalls of both video-shot and improvised features, "The Chateau" both looks and sounds worse than its promising if rather familiar premise would suggest. The tale of two mismatched American brothers who attempt to claim their inherited French chateau, the film suffers from rambling, repetitive dialogue and the visual drabness endemic to digital video. Some charming performances and amusing moments fail to compensate for the overall awkwardness.
Orphaned brothers Graham Paul Rudd) and Allen (Romany Malco), the latter of whom prefers to be called Rex, have arrived in the French countryside to claim their chateau, inherited from a long-lost great uncle. Full of hope, they have their expectations dashed when they arrive at the run-down estate, which still houses a full staff, including an officious butler, Jean Didier Flamand); a comely young maid, Isabelle (Sylvie Testud); and the elderly maid, Sabine (Maria Verdi), and her groundskeeper husband Pierre (Phillipe Nahon). The workers are rather confused by the surprising appearance of the two brothers. Not helping matters is their limited command of French and the fact that Graham is white and Allen, who was adopted, is black.
Much of the film's attempts at humor revolve around those two situations, with endless and quickly tiresome mileage derived from Graham's fumbling attempts to speak French, with the predictable malapropisms resulting, and people's confusion at the brothers' different skin tones. The dialogue, which was apparently developed in improvisations with the performers, lacks the comic crispness and wit that only good writing can produce. Even such promising scenes as the one in which the brothers attempt to sell their white elephant to an egocentric rock star (a dead-on Donal Logue) fail to deliver. Another major plot element, involving the romantic rivalry that develops between Graham and Rex over Isabelle, is similarly lackluster, though Testud's sly and wittily minimal performance does provide some spark.
Otherwise, the humor is strictly of the predictable variety, including such would-be comic highlights as Rex's running around in his underwear trying to find good cell phone reception. The final plot twists prove both cliched -- wily servants getting the better of the masters yet again -- and less than plausible.
Director-screenwriter Peretz is unable to provide crispness to the proceedings, with the film feeling far longer than its 92-minute running time. The best element is the charmingly self-effacing performance by Rudd, who demonstrates an admirable willingness to play his lead role in comically dunderheaded fashion.
THE CHATEAU
IFC Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jesse Peretz
Producers: Scott Macaulay, Robin O'Hara
Executive producers: John Penotti, Fisher Stevens, Bradley Yonover, Dolly Hall
Director of photography: Tom Richmond
Production designer: Christian Marti
Editors: Steve Hamilton, James Lyons
Cast:
Graham Granville: Paul Rudd
Allen "Rex" Granville: Romany Malco
Isabelle: Sylvie Testud
Jean/Jacques Granville: Didier Flamand
Pierre: Phillipe Nahon
Sabine: Maria Verdi
Sonny: Donal Logue
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Orphaned brothers Graham Paul Rudd) and Allen (Romany Malco), the latter of whom prefers to be called Rex, have arrived in the French countryside to claim their chateau, inherited from a long-lost great uncle. Full of hope, they have their expectations dashed when they arrive at the run-down estate, which still houses a full staff, including an officious butler, Jean Didier Flamand); a comely young maid, Isabelle (Sylvie Testud); and the elderly maid, Sabine (Maria Verdi), and her groundskeeper husband Pierre (Phillipe Nahon). The workers are rather confused by the surprising appearance of the two brothers. Not helping matters is their limited command of French and the fact that Graham is white and Allen, who was adopted, is black.
Much of the film's attempts at humor revolve around those two situations, with endless and quickly tiresome mileage derived from Graham's fumbling attempts to speak French, with the predictable malapropisms resulting, and people's confusion at the brothers' different skin tones. The dialogue, which was apparently developed in improvisations with the performers, lacks the comic crispness and wit that only good writing can produce. Even such promising scenes as the one in which the brothers attempt to sell their white elephant to an egocentric rock star (a dead-on Donal Logue) fail to deliver. Another major plot element, involving the romantic rivalry that develops between Graham and Rex over Isabelle, is similarly lackluster, though Testud's sly and wittily minimal performance does provide some spark.
Otherwise, the humor is strictly of the predictable variety, including such would-be comic highlights as Rex's running around in his underwear trying to find good cell phone reception. The final plot twists prove both cliched -- wily servants getting the better of the masters yet again -- and less than plausible.
Director-screenwriter Peretz is unable to provide crispness to the proceedings, with the film feeling far longer than its 92-minute running time. The best element is the charmingly self-effacing performance by Rudd, who demonstrates an admirable willingness to play his lead role in comically dunderheaded fashion.
THE CHATEAU
IFC Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jesse Peretz
Producers: Scott Macaulay, Robin O'Hara
Executive producers: John Penotti, Fisher Stevens, Bradley Yonover, Dolly Hall
Director of photography: Tom Richmond
Production designer: Christian Marti
Editors: Steve Hamilton, James Lyons
Cast:
Graham Granville: Paul Rudd
Allen "Rex" Granville: Romany Malco
Isabelle: Sylvie Testud
Jean/Jacques Granville: Didier Flamand
Pierre: Phillipe Nahon
Sabine: Maria Verdi
Sonny: Donal Logue
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 8/21/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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