Two women-driven dramas are among CBS’ first series orders for the 2020-2021 broadcast season. The Hollywood Reporter confirms the Queen Latifah-led “Equalizer” reboot and “Clarice,” a “Silence of the Lambs” sequel starring Rebecca Breeds (“Pretty Little Liars”), have both received pickups.
A Universal TV and CBS TV Studios co-production, “The Equalizer” is a gender-swapped reimagining of the ’80s CBS drama and the 2014 and 2018 Denzel Washington action movies of the same name. “The reimagining will see Latifah’s character use her mysterious background and extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn,” the source teases.
Hailing from “Castle” creators Terri Miller and Andrew Marlowe, the new “Equalizer” co-stars Lorraine Toussaint (“Orange Is the New Black”) and Chris Noth (“The Good Wife”). Latifah exec produces with the original series’ co-creator, Richard Lindheim. Liz Friedlander (“The Rookie”) and Debra Martin Chase (“Harriet”) are also among the EPs.
Latifah recently exec produced “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel,” Lifetime’s TV movie about the titular music pioneers. She portrays “Gone with the Wind” star Hattie McDaniel in Netflix’s “Hollywood.” “When the Streetlights Go On” and “The Little Mermaid Live!” are among her recent credits.
Centering on FBI agent Clarice Starling (Breeds), “Clarice” is set six months after the events of “Silence of the Lambs,” the Oscar-winning 1991 Jodie Foster thriller. Kal Penn (“Designated Survivor”), Nick Sandow (“Orange Is the New Black”), and Michael Cudlitz (“The Walking Dead”) co-star.
Breeds’ credits include “Three Summers,” “The Originals,” and “The Code.”
“Star Trek: Discovery” collaborators Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman penned “Clarice,” a CBS TV Studios and MGM Television co-production. Heather Kadin, their “Star Trek: Discovery” colleague, is exec producing.
Lumet and Kurtzman are running, writing, and EPing “The Man Who Fell to Earth” for CBS All Access. The sci-fi series, an update of the novel by Walter Tevis and classic 1976 David Bowie film, sees an alien arriving on Earth at a pivotal point in human evolution.
