Greg Berlanti & Julie Plec To Produce CW Adaptation Of UK Show ‘Tomorrow People’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA
The co-creators/ executive producers of the CW‘s two top-rated series, Arrow and The Vampire Diaries, have teamed for a new project at the network — a series adaptation of the cult British 1970s sci-fi series The Tomorrow People. Arrow‘s Greg Berlanti and The Vampire Diaries‘ Julie Plec will executive produce the project, written by Phil Klemmer (Chuck). In the vein of X-Men and Heroes, Tomorrow People is the story of several young people from around the world who represent the next stage in human evolution, possessing special powers, including the ability to teleport and communicate with each other telepathically. Together they work to defeat the forces of evil.
Created by Roger Price, The Tomorrow People, ITV’s answer to BBC’s Dr. Who, ran on the commercial broadcaster for eight seasons from 1973-1979 (watch its opening credits below). It developed a strong cult following and was a favorite of Berlanti and Plec, who are good friends from college. They had been chasing the rights to Tomorrow People for more than a decade, finally tracking them down to FremantleMedia, which rarely licenses its formats to other studios. But, given the level of auspices and Berlanti and Plec’s passion for the project, the company made an exception and will co-produce the adaptation with Warner Bros TV and studio-based Berlanti Prods. Berlanti, Plec, Klemmer and Berlanti Prods’ Melissa Berman executive produce, with SVP Scripted Programming Tony Optican overseeing for Fremantle. This is not the first attempt to reboot The Tomorrow People. ITV tried it in the early 1990s, with the new series running for three seasons.
Berlanti has credited Plec with convincing him to go back to writing when he had given up on his Hollywood dreams after a year of odd jobs and a string of rejections by agents and studios. Years later, the two briefly worked together on Dawson’s Creek and sold a feature, Her Leading Man, to Universal, with Dawson’s Creek creator and The Vampire Diaries‘ co-creator/exec producer Kevin Williamson attached to direct. Klemmer recently worked with Berlanti Prods on Berlanti’s USA drama Political Animals as well as the company’s midseason CBS series Golden Boy. Berlanti and Plec are with WME.
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