Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding drama Pump is taking shape.
The scripted project, which was originally sold to Showtime back in 2013, is now in development at CBS Television Studios, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The eight-episode hourlong drama, in which Schwarzenegger will also star, traces the origin of the present-day fitness industry and culture of body worship to a single 1,000-square-foot concrete room on Pacific Avenue: a gym called Pump. The series is set in early 1970s Venice Beach, Calif., where Schwarzenegger famously got his start as a bodybuilder.
In addition to executive producers The Tannenbaum Co.’s Eric and Kim Tannenbaum (Two and a Half Men), Schwarzenegger and Michael Konyves (The Last Knight), who created the series, Emmett/Furla/Oasis CEOs Randall Emmett and George Furla have boarded the projects as exec producers.
Related Stories
Bryan Goluboff (Blue Bloods) has also joined the project as executive producer and showrunner. Wayne Godfrey and Robert Jones of the Fyzz Facility will produce.
No network is yet attached, with Schwarzenegger’s agency, CAA, set to sell domestic rights to the series.
Schwarzenegger originally sold the project to Showtime in 2013, a year ahead of his collaboration with the pay cabler on the climate change docuseries Years of Living Dangerously. The project then moved to Hulu, where a second script was commissioned, but the project was not picked up to series.
“I knew from our first brainstorming session that Pump would be a hit. The ‘70s were such a colorful, transformational time, for me and for our entire country. I look forward to bringing that color to people’s living rooms with the fantastic, deep characters and the multilayered storylines of Pump,” Schwarzenegger said. “I feel so passionate about this project because today it’s easy to take our gyms and culture of fitness for granted, but it all started with this wild group of bodybuilders as a tiny subculture in a little dungeon gym in Venice Beach. I can’t wait to get to work with our great team.”
Added Emmett: “After reading the first script, I loved the concept and knew that there is an audience for it. We felt that we should bring it to life and found the right partnerships with Schwarzenegger, The Tannenbaum Company and CBS Television Studios.”
Since leaving the California governor’s mansion, Schwarzenegger has turned his attention back to Hollywood. His recent credits include The Expendables films, Terminator: Genisys and a rare TV appearance on the Tannenbaum’s series Two and a Half Men in 2015.
Before his tenure as governor and his lengthy Hollywood career, Schwarzenegger got his start as a bodybuilder while serving in the Austrian Army before he moved to California and made a name for himself at Venice’s famed Gold’s Gym. He went on to win the Mr. Universe title and was named Mr. Olympia seven times.
In addition to Pump, Schwarzenegger is set as the new host of Celebrity Apprentice, replacing Donald Trump. His series debut is slated for midseason on NBC.
