Though it seemed unlikely at the time, NBC has been bringing the heat to veteran series Hawaii Five-0 and Castle with it’s new drama Revolution. The series from Eric Kripke and executive producer J.J. Abrams has been pulling double-digit-millions for the first time in awhile at NBC and has already been picked up for a full first season by the network. Though it will obviously have quite the task ahead of it, it seems the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world has truly gained fans’ attention in very similar ways to this year’s earlier box office hitThe Hunger Games. Now, The CW wants in as they have purchased yet another pilot for next year which is a teenage science fiction drama with the same type of setting.
Deadline reports that The CW has bought a sci-fi pitch from writer Jason Rothenberg called The Hundred, which Warner Brothers Television is attached to produce under their Alloy Entertainment banner. Rothenberg is perhaps best known as of recently for delivering a script to WB for the big-screen revival of The Twilight Zone, which is currently trying to find a director after the departure of Matt Reeves. It’s implied that The CW only has a pilot commitment in place, though judging by the plot it could become a high-profile win for the network.
The Hundred takes place 100 years after mankind has destroyed itself, likely from nuclear war, global warming or some other mass exodus. Those humans that have survived are living in space and decide it is finally time to go home. However, the survivors believe it best that the first step in colonizing the Earth once more is to release 100 juvenile delinquents to the surface of a planet that has changed immensely. It’s hear that the beginning of humanity once more and the survival of the human race rests entirely in their hands.
Rothenberg has had a close working relationship with WB, asThe Hundred marks his third original project under them. WithThe Twilight Zone, he also previously developed a Minka Kelly starring pilot Body Politic that unfortunately was never picked up.
The Hundred joins a number of pilots that The CW has already set in place, including fellow sci-fi/alien drama Oxygen, an adaptation of the hit film Battle Royale, the failed drama from last year that is currently being reworked The Selection, a U.S. version of Misfits from Josh Schwartz, an adaptation of the novel Embrace, a new supernatural drama Copeland Prep from Bret Easton Ellis, an Alice in Wonderland reimagining Wunderlandand perhaps the most high-profile of all Amazon which will seek to bring a Wonder Woman origins tale to the small screen.
We’ll keep you updated on the pilots’ status as development continues.
