NBC announces Tommyknockers & Rosemary’s Baby remakes, Hillary Clinton documentary

The mini-series is back! After the huge success of recent mini-series such as The Hatfields & McCoys, Game Change, and The Bible, networks are announcing lots of new projects in the long-form format. At the 2013 TCAs earlier today NBC announced they will be giving the mini-series treatment to Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers, Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby, and a biopic on Hillary Clinton simply titled Hillary and starring Diane Lane. Also in the works is the “limited series” Plymouth, which will “explore the challenges and drama of the Pilgrims’ journey across the Atlantic and the difficulties of settling in a new country.”

For Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers, this will be the second network miniseries treatment after Jimmy Smits and Marg Helgenberger starred in ABC’s version in 1993.

As most everyone is aware, Rosemary’s Baby was adapted to the big screen in 1968 by writer/director Roman Polanski and instantly became a classic of the suspense/thriller genre.

Here’ is the full press release from NBC announcing the new projects:

NBC EXPANDS EVENT PROGRAMMING SLATE WITH THREE MINISERIES AND ONE LIMITED SERIES
“Hillary,” Starring Diane Lane, “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Stephen King’s Tommyknockers” and “Plymouth” Add to Growing Slate

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — July 27, 2013 — In ramping up its commitment to longform and event limited series programming along the lines of “A.D.: After the Bible,” which was announced last month, NBC is in early development on a handful of new projects, including a behind-the-scenes look at Hillary Rodham Clinton, an updated retelling of “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Stephen King’s Tommyknockers” and “Plymouth,” based on the epic story of the Mayflower’s landing in America.

The four-hour miniseries titled “Hillary,” based on the life of former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, stars Diane Lane and will be written and directed by Oscar nominee Courtney Hunt (“Frozen River”). The miniseries will recount Clinton’s life as a wife, mother, politician and cabinet member from 1998 to the present. The script will begin with Clinton living in the White House as her husband is serving the second of his two terms as president. In the years following, she would eventually become a United States senator, run for president and, ultimately, serve the country as secretary of state.

Lane is one of the most well-regarded actresses working in Hollywood today. She is a three-time Golden Globe nominee (feature films “Unfaithful,” “Under the Tuscan Sun” and TV movie “Cinema Verite”) and is an Independent Spirit Award nominee (“A Walk in the Moon”). She has also been nominated for two SAG Awards (“Unfaithful” and “Cinema Verite”).

Lane has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards: “Cinema Verite” and as a lead actress in “Lonesome Dove.”

Sherryl Clark of Busted Shark will serve as executive producer along with James D. Stern and producers Julie Goldstein and Lucas Smith of Endgame Entertainment. Stern was a producer on the critically acclaimed motion picture “Looper” and was nominated for both a Gotham Award and Independent Spirit Award as producer on the film “I’m Not There.”

“Rosemary’s Baby” is a four-hour updated retelling of the bestselling novel by Ira Levin that was later adapted as a feature film about devil worship and the complex relationship between a young husband and wife. In the new version, the couple lives in Paris where this edge-of-your-seat thriller unfolds. Lionsgate is the production company. Scott Abbott (“Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” “Winchell”) will serve as writer on “Rosemary’s Baby.” Executive producers are Joshua Maurer, David Stern, Perri Kipperman and Alix Witlin.

“Stephen King’s Tommyknockers” is based on the renown author’s chilling 1987 novel about how the residents of a small Maine town deal with what they believe is an alien spacecraft that has landed nearby. Executive producers are Frank Konigsberg and Larry Sanitsky. Emmy Award winner Yves Simoneau (“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”) is attached to direct.

Limited series “Plymouth,” which examines the challenges and drama of the Pilgrims’ journey across the Atlantic and the difficulties of settling in a new country, will be executive produced by Mark Burnett and Anne Thomopolous of Mark Burnett Productions, and Gina Matthews and Grant Sharbo (Little Engine). Oscar (“The Hellstrom Chronicle”) and Emmy winner (“NYPD Blue”) Walon Green will write.