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Hoping to capitalize on the success of established series, The CW has given the greenlight for five pilots, among them, spinoffs The Flash and Supernatual: Tribes; comic adaptation iZombie, terrorism drama Identity and telenovela adaptation Jane the Virgin.
Grant Gustin to play Barry Allen in “The Flash”
After months of planning and rumors, The CW officially confirmed its pilot order for Arrow spinoff The Flash, starring Grant Gustin (Glee). Originally planned to be a backdoor pilot (similar to The Originals), the network opted to film it was a stand-alone episode instead. Gustin, who guest starred for a short-arc on Arrow, stars as Barry Allen, a scientist given powers as the result of a freak storm. After being struck by lightning, Barry is imbued with powers of super speed, resulting in him becoming the fastest man alive. Danielle Panabaker, Jesse L. Martin and Rick Cosnett will also star in the series.
Berlanti, along with Arrow exec Andrew Kreisberg and DC’s Geoff Johns will write and executive produce The Flash. David Nutter will helm the pilot in addition to producing. Berlanti Productions exec Melissa Kellner Berman is attached to co-executive produce.
Supernatural: Tribes is based in Chicago and will follow the wars between hunters and monsters. The spinoff comes from Supernatural writer Andrew Dabb, who will executive produce with Eric Kripke, Robert Singer, Jeremy Carver and McG (Nikita). The series is expected to feature a different cast from its predecessor, though cast members from Supernatural may cross over should the series move forward.
From Veronica Mars’ Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero’s comes iZombie, an adaptation of the DC Comic of the same name. The series is described as a supernatural crime procedural centering on a medical-student-turned-zombie who takes a job at the coroner’s office to feed her hunger and maintain her humanity. Here’s the catch – for every brain she eats, she inherits the person’s memories. She decides to help solve murders as a way to distract her from the voices in her head. Thomas and Ruggiero will executive produce the series with Danielle Stokdyk and Dan Etheridge from Warner Bros. TV.
Identity, from executive producer and writer Corrine Brinkerhoff (Elementary), is a terrorism drama about a young woman in need of a transplant who learns she’s related to a powerful family whose son is her only hope for a donor. She’s approached by the CIA to infiltrate and investigate her newfound family’s ties to domestic terrorism. Her loyalty morality and ethics are tested as she’s forced to slowly build a case against the very family who saved her life.
Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Heather Kadin of K.O. Paper Products and Script World’s Rob Golenberg and Alon Aranya will also executive produce the project alongside Brinkerhoff. Identity is from CBS Television Studios, K/O and Scripted World.
From Jennie Snyder Urman (Emily Owens, M.D.) comes Jane The Virgin, an adaptation of the Venezuelan telenovela Juana La Virgen, a series about a young, hardworking and deeply religious Latina who is accidentally artificially inseminated following a series of surprising and unforeseen events.
Urman will executive produce with Ben Silverman, Gary Pearl and Jorge Granier of Electus. CBS Television Studios is also attached.
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