US version of Rake lands at Fox
An Australian production company has landed a pilot of one of its top dramas with a major US network.
Fox has commissioned the pilot for an American version of courtroom drama Rake, produced by Essential Media and Entertainment.
In October, Mumbrella reported Essential had entered into a co-production deal with Sony Pictures to shop an Americanised version to the networks.
The US production will star actor Greg Kennear in the lead of Cleaver Green, the role played by Richard Roxburgh on ABC1. Paul Attanasio, the EP of House will executive produce with script supervision from Peter Duncan who co-created the original series with Roxburgh and Charles Waterstreet. Duncan will also executive produce with Attanasio as well as Roxburgh and Ian Collie of Essential Media and Entertainment.
Hollywood agency CAA packaged the deal with the pilot expected to air in March.
Earlier this month, Essential Media and Entertainment was named Independent Producer of the Year at this year’s Screen Producers Association of Australia Awards.
Essential Media and Entertainment has also just wrapped on a new film starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson called Saving Mr Banks, about the Australian author of Mary Poppins.
Just like Americans to take great stuff and copy their own version of it instead of just buying distribution rights. That’s because they don’t know anything beyond their noses, obviously.
Thankfully, other countries, like Australia, know how to come up with their own ideas, like the awesome Rake and Redfern, except for the sad importation of reality TV crap, which, frankly, can go fuck-off back to the wasteland from whence it came.
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Nice work Collie, kicking goals again.
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I can see David Duchovny taking the lead role in that production. Great show.
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Awesome stuff.
Go locals!
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C’mon Cleav, nobody here is listening to your ranting – as usual. All this lot do is suck for the buck
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Harry Sorry David…
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The ABC is killing it. Commercial stations should take note and stop creating / commissioning bottom feeder content.
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