AMC
AMC yesterday announced plans for its fifth series, a murder mystery starring Mireille Enos (who gave a fabulous duel performance as twins on Big Love). What’s it called? That’s a mystery too!
Originally called The Killing, the series is based on the much-praised Danish miniseries Forbrydelsen. As with any adaption of an overseas drama with its own following (see In Treatment, or NBC’s planned Prime Suspect remake), one challenge will be keeping faith with the original series while giving it an American sensibility. But the other challenge, presumably, will be turning a miniseries into an open-ended series. It’s not clear whether AMC intends to make its mystery open-ended, or use a one-case-per-season format, a la Murder One or Damages (or, to an extent, The Wire).
But it does look like AMC is swinging for the fences creatively, continuing to challenge HBO as the classy-TV standard-bearer du jour (even as HBO is resurgent with series like the soon-to-premiere Boardwalk Empire)—as well as challenging FX and Showtime as, well, a challenger to HBO. Excerpts from the release follow:
AMC announced today a full series order for the pilot that was formerly known as The Killing, from writer and executive producer Veena Sud (Cold Case). Sud has signed on to also serve as the showrunner for the series, which is currently untitled. Set in Seattle, the series is based on the wildly successful Danish television series “Forbrydelsen” and tells the story of the murder of a young girl and the subsequent police investigation. Produced by Fox Television Studios, it is executive produced by Mikkel Bondesen (Burn Notice) for Fuse Entertainment. Fuse’s Kristen Campo co-produces. AMC first announced the pilot order in January 2010 with Patty Jenkins (Monster) directing the pilot. Production on the series begins this fall in Vancouver and season one consists of 13, one-hour episodes. The series is slated to premiere in 2011 on AMC.
Today’s announcement marks the fifth original series greenlight for AMC. The first four were Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Rubicon and The Walking Dead.
[Expectation-setting executive quotations redacted]
As “Sarah,” Mireille Enos (Big Love) portrays the lead homicide detective that investigates the death of Rosie Larsen. Other previously announced castings include: Billy Campbell (Once and Again, Enough) as Darren Richmond, Seattle’s City Council President, running for Mayor; Michelle Forbes (True Blood) as Mitch Larsen, the victim’s mother; Joel Kinnaman (Snabba Cash) as Stephen Holder, an ex-narc cop who joins the homicide division in the investigation to find Rosie Larsen’s killer; and Brent Sexton (W., In the Valley of Elah) as Stan Larsen, the victim’s father.
The series ties together three distinct stories around a single murder including the detectives assigned to the case, the victim’s grieving family and the suspects. The story also explores local politics as it follows politicians connected to the case. As it unfolds, it becomes clear that there are no accidents; everyone has a secret, and while the characters think they’ve moved on, their past isn’t done with them.