Fox is developing a cop drama with Diablo Cody producing and a reboot of the 1970s series “Kung Fu,” Variety has learned.
The first project is titled “Two Nights.” It follows ex-cop Sunday Night, described as an eccentric smartass with scars of all types who lives on a shrinking island with her pet squirrel and not much else. But when her foster father asks for help in the kidnapping case of a young girl, Sunday is pulled back into the world of law enforcement, forcing her to confront her own demons as she solves cases for the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI. Fox has ordered a script for the potential one-hour drama.
Emily Silver will write the script and executive produce, with Diablo Cody also executive producing. Silver’s previous credits include working as a writer and producer on the Fox procedural “Bones” and CW’s “The Flash.” She has also co-created the show “Finding Carter” and wrote for “Beauty and the Beast.” Cody is best known for writing the indie comedy “Juno.” She also created the Showtime dramedy “United States of Tara” and wrote an early draft of the “Barbie” movie currently in the works at Sony.
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Cody is repped by WME and MXN, while Silver is also repped by WME and Industry Entertainment Partners.
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The “Kung Fu” reboot will put a new spin on the classic show, this time featuring a female lead. It will follow the adventures of Lucy Chang, a Buddhist monk and kung fu master who travels through 1950s America armed only with her spiritual training and her martial arts skills as she searches for the man who stole her child years before. When she teams up with JT Cullen, a charming Korean War vet with his own secrets, the two form an unlikely alliance that allows Lucy to continue her search while also coming to the aid of people in need. Fox has given the project a put pilot order.
The original series was created by Ed Spielman. Wendy Mericle will write and executive produce the reboot, with Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter also executive producing. Berlanti Productions will produce in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Mericle currently works as an executive producer and writer on “Arrow,” which Berlanti executive produces. Her other writing credits include “Desperate Housewives,” “Eli Stone,” “Smallville,” and “The Ghost Whisperer.” Berlanti currently executive produces CW shows “Riverdale,” “Legends of Tomorrow,” “Arrow,” “The Flash,” and “Supergirl.” He will also executive produce the upcoming CW series “Black Lightning.” He is also an executive producer on NBC’s “Blindspot” and the upcoming ABC drama “Deception.” He is also developing three new projects at The CW this season: a time-travel love story, a high school football drama, and “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” which would serve as a companion series to “Riverdale.”
Berlanti Productions is repped by WME. Mericle is repped by CAA.
Deadline first reported the news of the “Kung Fu” reboot.