The love affair between FX and the police procedural series Powers (based on Brian Michael Bendis' comic book of the same name) may currently be stalled, but the network insists the fire is still burning.
Since the initial announcement last year, the Powers pilot has been plagued with production setbacks, retooling, and re-writes. Now, after failing to be picked up by the cable network’s 2012-13 season, the fate of the show is in television limbo.
Last year, a pilot was shot with Jason Patric (The Lost Boys) and English actress Lucy Punch (Bad Teacher) playing main characters Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, respectively, along with Charles S. Dutton, Titus Welliver, and Carly Foulkes.
However, FX head John Landgraf decided to reject the pilot and commissioned a rewrite from Charles "Chick" Eglee (The Shield, Dexter). Since then, Punch has been released from her Powers contract after landing a new Fox show (Ned Fox is My Manny) and was shortly followed by Khary Payton (who played Cutter in the original pilot).
Now, FX’ has plans to recast and reshoot an entirely new pilot. There’s no set timeframe in place for production or an estimated release date, but comic creator Bendis has confirmed via both his Twitter and Tumblr pages that the complicated project is still very much alive.
In a recent interview, Landgraf also commented on the current state of the problematic Powers pilot:
"['Powers' is] as difficult an adaptation as I've ever worked on. The goal with Powers is to make a serious drama with superhero elements, and that's not something I’ve ever really seen before. If you think about a 10 o'clock drama, a 'Sopranos'-esque drama ... there's never been either a theatrical feature film or a television series that's taken the superhero genre into that type of tonality. It's never been done, and it's just really a struggle."
Check out the picture of Jason Patric as Christian Walker in the Powers pilot (click to enlarge):
For those unfamiliar with the story - Powers, created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming, takes place in a world where having superpowers is relatively common but not quite mundane. It follows the hectic lives of two detectives, Christian Walker and his partner Deena Pilgrim, who work in the Homicide Department devoted to cases that involve "powers" (people with superpowers). Walker himself used to be a costumed superhero known as Diamond, but became a police officer after losing his abilities.
Most comic book fans believe the idea of a Powers TV adaptation is a good one, but the constant retooling and production trouble just go to show why many superhero-related ideas go instead to the big screen. Whether or not Powers ever sees the light of day on FX remains to be seen, but as always, we will keep you posted.
Keep your eye on the main page for any new info on Powers that may arise.
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Source: Variety