#9: 2012 (ABC)

The US networks are deep into development season and have spent the past few weeks frantically ordering pilots ahead of this year’s Upfronts and LA Screenings. TBI takes a look at some of the most interesting projects that are up for consideration.

#9: 2012 (ABC)

Feature director Roland Emmerich, the man behind films including Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, is moving into television for the first time with high concept spin-off series 2012.

The series is not a direct television adaptation of the John Cusasck-fronted disaster movie he directed in 2009 but will take elements from the movie, particularly the fallout.  

2012, which is a working title, is produced by ABC Studios and The Mark Gordon Company, which produces series including Criminal Minds and Private Practice. It was ordered by network ABC and the pilot is being written by Emmerich and Harald Kloser, who has worked with Emmerich on a number of projects.

The series follows a young astrophysics student living in New York who realises that there is more to the world than science. It is set amidst the backdrop of the 2012 US presidential elections.

The idea has been floating around Hollywood for a couple of years and Emmerich and Gordon first tried to pitch the series immediately after the conclusion of ABC supernatural smash Lost, but the costs were prohibitive at the time. Emmerich told Movieweb in February 2012 that Gordon was trying to come up with an idea how to make it cheaper. “It was not a sequel. It was a story you could only tell once. There was no sequel to Noah’s Ark. It would have been a great TV show,” he said.

Chances: Fair; if the producers can find a way to make it stand out without costing the earth (ala Terra Nova), it has a very good chance of making it to series.