Fox to Shoot All 6 Previously Ordered Pilots, Including ‘The Goonies’ Re-Enactment Drama

Fox still intends to shoot all six of the pilots it ordered this cycle ahead of the pandemic-forced production shutdowns and delays that hit the U.S. in mid-March, the network announced Thursday.

The broadcaster says it’s extended the options for all the projects, including single-camera comedies “Pivoting” and “This Country,” as well as dramas “The Big Leap,” “Blood Relative,” “The Cleaning Lady” and an untitled drama that follows kids attempting to make a shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg’s “The Goonies.” However, there is currently no timeline set to begin production on the pilots amid COVID-19.

If ordered to series, these six pilots — which are all co-productions between Fox Entertainment and their respective studios — would join a lineup of new shows at Fox that includes Mayim Bialik-led comedy “Call Me Kat,” Nick Offerman and Jenny Slate’s animated series “The Great North,” and “Housebroken,” another adult cartoon, this one starring Lisa Kudrow, which are all set to debut at midseason.

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Apart from these projects, Fox still intends to order pilots and series off-cycle, with Karin Gist and Lee Daniels’ drama “Our Kind of People” and an untitled country music dynasty drama from Melissa London Hilfers considered two of the most promising potential series in development at the network, an individual with knowledge of the situation tells TheWrap.

“Fox established its brand – of programming and business – around the notion of boldness, nimble action and the ability to zig when others zag,” Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier said in a statement. “I always admired Fox’s willingness to invest at times others did not see opportunity. We are not dropping pilots at this time because we entered this process deliberately, believed in these artists and partners before the COVID-19 crisis and we continue to believe in them today.”

Michael Thorn, president of entertainment at Fox Entertainment, added: “Entering Fox Entertainment’s first development season as a new company, our methodology was to carefully curate our content more like a start-up; looking for new opportunities, new stories and new voices in ways perhaps others might not be able. As such, narrowing down these projects to only those that met our standards from the beginning, we still believe this crop of pilots – all from some of the finest writers, producers and talent in the business — really represents what Fox is trying to accomplish both in ‘pilot season’ but, more importantly, for our year-round ambitions.”

Also Read: 'Langdon,' 'Night School' Among 5 NBC Pilots to Shoot Later This Year

Readers can find descriptions for Fox’s pilots below, each in the network’s own words, and Fox’s fall schedule here.

COMEDIES

PIVOTING
Studios: Warner Bros. Television, Fox Entertainment, Kapital Entertainment
Order: Pilot order
Format: Half-hour comedy, single-camera
Executive Producer/Writer: Liz Astrof
Executive Producer/Director: Tristram Shapeero
Executive Producers: Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor (Kapital)
Logline: PIVOTING follows three women after the death of their childhood best friend. Faced with the reality that life is short, in desperate attempts to find happiness, they make a series of impulsive, ill-advised and self-indulgent decisions, strengthening their bond proving it’s never too late to screw up your life.
Cast:
Eliza Coupe – Amy
Ginnifer Goodwin — Jodie
Tommy Dewey – Henry

THIS COUNTRY
Studios: Lionsgate, BBC Studios, Fox Entertainment, Feigco Entertainment
Format: Single-camera comedy
Commitment: Pilot order
EP/W: Jenny Bicks, who EPs through her Perkins Street Productions
EP/D: Paul Feig
EP/NW: Angie Stephenson (BBC Studios), Charlie Cooper, Daisy May Cooper (creators of the original BBC series)
Co-EP/NW: Dan Magnante (Feigco Entertainment)
Producers/NW: Cathy Mason, Rachel Mason
Logline: In this half-hour comedy inspired by the BBC format, a documentary crew goes to a small town to study young adults and their current concerns. Their focus is the daily lives of cousins Kelly and Shrub Mallet and their idiosyncratic surroundings. We follow the cousins as they pursue their dreams, confront challenges, and fight each other for frozen pizza. These two don’t have much, but they do have each other.
The project comes out of Bicks’ and Feig’s overall deals with Lionsgate Television, and the BBC Studios and Lionsgate co-production partnership.
Seann William Scott – Father Joe
Chelsea Holmes — Kelly Mallet
Sam Straley – Shrub Mallet
Taylor Ortega – Nadine
Krystal Smith — Big Mandy

Also Read: 2020-2021 TV Season: Every Broadcast Show Canceled, Renewed and Ordered - So Far

DRAMAS

THE BIG LEAP
Studios: 20th Century Fox Television, FOX Entertainment
Format: One-hour drama
Commitment: Pilot order
EP/W: Liz Heldens
EP/D: Jason Winer
EP/NW: Sue Naegle
Logline: Inspired by a UK format, THE BIG LEAP is a funny and contemporary tale about second chances, chasing your dreams and taking back what’s yours. The show centers on a group of diverse underdogs from all different walks of life who compete to be part of a competition reality series that is putting on a modern, hip remake of “Swan Lake.” What they lack in the traditional dancer body type, they make up for with their edge, wit and desire to reimagine an iconic story to fit their own mold. THE BIG LEAP takes us on a journey of self-acceptance, body-positivity and empowerment at any age.
Cast:
Teri Polo – Julia Torrence
Scott Foley – Nick Smart
Ser’Darius Blain — Reggie Sadler
Ray Cham – Justin Reyes
Jon Rudnitsky – Mike Devries
Simone Recasner – Gabby Taylor

BLOOD RELATIVE
Studios: Paramount Television Studios, Anonymous Content, Fox Entertainment
Format: One-hour drama
Commitment: Pilot order
EP/W: Chris Levinson and James Renner
EP/D: Phillip Noyce
EP/NW: Liza Chasin (3 Dot Productions)
Logline: Genetic genealogy is the best new tool in crime scene forensics, and nobody knows it like Louise Kelly. Too bad she’s impossible to deal with. Based on James Renner’s article “Beyond the Jungle of Bad: The True Story of Two Women from California Who Are Solving All the Mysteries.”
Cast:
Melissa Leo – Louise Kelly
Tate Donovan – Detective John Kelly
Tyrone Marshall Brown – Detective Brick Doughty

Also Read: Summer TV 2020: Premiere Dates for New and Returning Shows (Photos)

THE CLEANING LADY
Studios: Warner Bros Television, Fox Entertainment
Format: One-hour drama
Commitment: Pilot order
EP/W: Miranda Kwok
EP/Showrunner: Melissa Carter
EP/D: Michael Offer
EP/NW: Shay Mitchell (Amore & Vita Productions, Inc.)
Based upon the original Argentine series
Logline: THE CLEANING LADY is a darkly aspirational character drama about a whip-smart doctor who comes to the U.S. for a medical treatment to save her ailing son. But when the system fails and pushes her into hiding, she refuses to be beaten down and marginalized. Instead, she becomes a cleaning lady for the mob and starts playing the game by her own rules…
Cast:
Elodie Yung – Reyna Salonga
Adan Canto – Arman Morales
Vincent Piazza – Gavin Ross
Ginger Gonzaga – Fiona Salonga

UNTITLED FILM RE-ENACTMENT PROJECT
Studios: Warner Bros. Television, Fox Entertainment, Amblin TV
Format: One-hour drama
Commitment: Pilot order
EP/W: Sarah Watson
EP/D: Greg Mottola
EP/NW: Gail Berman, Lauren Shuler Donner, Richard Donner, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank
Logline: After failing to make it in New York and carrying a heavy secret with her, Stella Cooper returns to her distressed automotive hometown to substitute teach. She finds inspiration, hope, and ultimately salvation when she agrees to help three students who are pursuing their filmmaking dreams by putting on an impossibly ambitious shot-for-shot remake of one of the student’s favorite movies… “The Goonies.” Over the course of the season, their passion will inspire a town in desperate need of hope in this love letter to the power of cinema, storytelling, and dreams.
Cast:
Ramon Rodriguez — James “Jax” Jackson

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