Starz, the cable network, is getting into original production and their first project will be based on the 2005 Best Picture Oscar-winning film Crash. Glen Mazzara, whose credits include Life, The Shield, Stand-Off and Nash Bridges, has been named executive producer/showrunner for the drama series. Lionsgate TV will co-produce with Starz, and they've greenlighted 13 episodes. The controversial film, which dealt with the intersecting lives of a myriad of people living in Los Angeles in just 48 hours, centers on the character of Detective Graham Waters. Waters, a police detective, is struggling with his career, his drug addict mother and a criminal brother. The role was played by Don Cheadle (Picket Fences), who was also one of the film's producers. He is expected to reprise the part in the Starz production and may even direct a few episodes. In addition, director/co-writer/producer Paul Haggis and others from the film are also on board for Starz.
Mazzara is enthused about the project and has already been working on scripts. "I was very intrigued with the idea of doing a character-based drama set in Los Angeles that revolved around explosive moments in people's lives that came out of seemingly mundane events," he said.
With the variety of character introduced in the film, Crash would seem a very viable TV series. In fact, it might be better as a show because there is more time -- whole episodes -- which could be devoted to one story thread or another.
Haggis has been a big success in features, contributing scripts for Casino Royale, In the Valley of Elah and Million Dollar Baby, has been less so with his TV efforts. His last series was The Black Donnellys, an NBC drama that crashed and burned last year.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-26-2008 @ 12:34PM
Oreo said...
Was the film controversial before it wrongfully called "best movie"? I remember it being a terrible movie, but not the controversial until it won.
Worst "best movie" ever.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 1:02PM
Robert Belew said...
First, it was a terrible movie and now they are making a series out of it?
Second, I like Starz the way it is. I want to be able to click over an watch a movie. This sucks...
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 1:12PM
Joey Geraci said...
Crash was a very good movie. Maybe it didn't deserve the best movie of the year, but it was very good. Just because it didn't fit your particular taste, doesn't mean it was a bad movie in general.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 3:29PM
Oreo said...
I think popular opinion of the movie makes it a bad movie.
And because it doesn't fit our taste does make it a bad movie! Do you even read what you are saying? If the Godfather isn't my taste than I can think of it as a bad movie! "Bad" and "good" movies are 100% taste. The fact you can't see that says a lot.
2-26-2008 @ 5:00PM
kevjohn said...
Mr. Oreo, 'popular opinion' seems to be rating the film very highly on imdb. You are sounding like one of those wackjob political extremists who always seem to think the general public shares their views. You didn't like it. Just say you didn't like it. Don't profess to know what everyone else thinks of it.
2-26-2008 @ 8:32PM
Joey Geraci said...
I don't know how you define popular opinion, Oreo, but 69% on Metacritic and 75% on Rotten Tomatoes spells, "pretty good" to me. It certainly wasn't perfect, but I liked it, along with the majority of people who saw it.