- In wholly expected news, The CW have renewed superhero drama ARROW for a third season. Other hits like The Vampire Diaries, its spin-off The Originals, Supernatural, and Mary Queen of Scots period drama Reign will also be back next season. [via DigitalSpy]
- They're really cranking out the casting for Fox's Batman prequel GOTHAM now, and Donal Logue (Terriers) is now aboard as "Jim Gordon's partner and mentor, the rough-around-the-edge Detective Bullock", who "plays loose with police procedure" with an "old-school, forceful panache". This won't be a stretch for the actor, but the superstitious are perhaps worried he's a notorious 'showkiller" (an actor with a tendency to star in shows that get axed quickly). Hopefully that won't be true here, unless Gotham is awful. No word yet on who's playing a young Bruce Wayne, and if he'll be integral to the show (although the presence of Sean Pertwee as Alfred suggests he will). [via io9]
- Fresh from re-imagining Dracula for NBC (very poorly), British writer Cole Hadden has been hired to create a new Robin Hood drama for BBC America, entitled NOTTINGHAM. The key difference between this and the countless other adaptations? Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham are the same person, as "Robin Hood" is an alter ego the Sheriff adopts after King John's men kill his wife and aren't punished for the crime. The idea of making Robin and the Sheriff the same person was actually the concept behind Ridley Scott's Robin Hood film (in the original script) before the bizarre idea was dropped and a traditional version filmed. I'm not sure if Hadden is aware of that script's development (outlined here), or independently thought of the same twist, but it smells suspicious to me. Regardless, Nottingham is being made by Sony with executive producers John Davis and John Fox (The Blacklist) attached. I just hope they avoid American actors doing wonky English accents. [via Deadline]
- If you've been watching HBO's TRUE DETECTIVE, you've already sampled the work of director Cary Fukunaga, who is behind every single episode. The show's success has earned him a new job: directing the adaptation of Stephen King horror classic It, which was previously turned into a TV Movie (which had flaws, but managed to terrify thanks to Tim Curry as hair-raising clown Pennywise). Fukunaga is also going to write the script. To be fair, he's been attached to the project since 2012, but I think True Detective's allowed its development to hit a higher gear. [via /Film]
- Did you know that David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) is producing and directing a remake of Channel 4 drama UTOPIA? Well, he is. He's also hired author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) to write the script, for a planned HBO series. The series retains the original concept of an underground graphic novel foretelling the future, that winds up in the hands of internet forum conspiracy theorists, who find themselves pursued by assassins after the manuscript for nefarious reasons. Incidentally, the Channel 4 drama ended on a cliffhanger, but I've heard nothing about a second series. [via EW]
