Paramount has set the "Twilight" screenwriter to write and produce via her Tall Girls Prods. an adaptation of Pamela Sargent’s 1983 sci-fi novel "Earthseed."
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImageTwilight scribe Melissa Rosenberg has set up her second drama project at ABC.
The writer behind Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn — Part 1 will adapt Endemol’s Dutch drama Penoza, the story of an assassinated criminal’s widow who is forced to take over her late husband’s shady role in a bid to keep her family safe.
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Rosenberg — who has Marvel’s AKA Jessica Jones set up with the network and ABC Studios and murder-mystery drama Afterthought in the works at NBC — will pen the pilot and serve as the showrunner and executive produce Penoza alongside The Naked Truth‘s Alon Aranya and Howard Klein.
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Endemol’s Penoza, created by Pieter Bart Korthuis is currently in production on its second season in the Netherlands, where it airs on KRO.
The project is one of two Endemol formats set up at ABC and ABC Studios. Endemol Studios, launched in August, also has Spirited, which will be written by Desperate Housewives‘ Chris Black and Chuck‘s Henry Alonso Myers, which revolves around Suzy Darling, a newly divorced mother of two whose life is forever changed when she meets the ghost of a 1980s English punk rock star.
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Black and Alonso will write and executive produce the project, which is based on Endemol’s Australian format that airs on Foxtel.
“We are thrilled to partner with ABC Studios to develop some of Endemol Studios first scripted projects,” said Endemol Studios CEO Philippe Maigret in a statement announcing the news. “It is enormously exciting that we have such rich material to bring to the network from the Endemol teams in Australia and the Netherlands and we look forward to working with Melissa on Penoza, Chris and Henry on Spirited.”
Endemol Studios head of creative affairs Jeremy Gold will oversee both projects.
Rosenberg’s TV credits include Dexter and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, among others. On the feature side, Twilight: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 hits theaters Friday, with the second half of the Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson franchise’s conclusion set for next year.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
