Blumhouse Productions have announced two major projects in the forms of a scripted adaptation of a Dateline story (via Variety), the first in a partnership between Blumhouse Television and NBC News, and a first-look deal with Golden Globe-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), according to Deadline.
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Psyched about this. https://t.co/LpK6xOfrrp
— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) May 19, 2020
The Dateline adaptation will focus on the reality legal series’ coverage of the murder of Betsy Faria in 2011, a case in which her husband was originally sentenced and subsequently freed as another suspect was found in the form of Pam Hupp, who was convicted in 2019 and believed to have orchestrated her death to pin it on Betsy’s husband. The NBC program has covered the case a number of time since 2014 and even created a podcast, The Thing About Pam, last year centered on it. The announcement video for the scripted adaptation can be viewed in the player below!
“We have covered this story from all angles, including as an unwitting participant,” Liz Cole, president of NBC News Studios and executive producer of Dateline, said in a statement. “Having been at the forefront of the true crime genre for so long, we know better than anyone that truth is often stranger than fiction, and with the twists and turns in this case, we saw a real opportunity to present it in a scripted format. We are so fortunate and pleased to be co-producing it with the brilliant storytellers at Blumhouse Television.”
NBC News Studios first launched in January as part of a bit from the network to enter into the world of premium documentaries, docu-series and select scripted programs, which replaced the long-running Peacock Productions, and partnered with Blumhouse Television to develop and produce original scripted programs based on Dateline stories. Cole is set to executive produce the series for NBC News Studios alongside Jason Blum, Wiseman and Gold for Blumhouse Television and David Corvo from Dateline.
“We’re not just looking for monsters under the bed, but also the things that keep us up at night so the chance to mine the incredibly rich trove of material from the Dateline archives to develop is a really unique and exciting opportunity for us,” Marci Wiseman and Jeremy Gold co-presidents Blumhouse Television, said in a statement. “When we first came across The Thing About Pam, like thousands of others who’ve seen the Dateline episode and listened to the podcast, we were riveted. So when NBC presented this to us we jumped at making this our first scripted project with them.”
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After making her debut with Blumhouse in the hit 2018 Halloween reboot, Curtis and her production banner Comet Pictures have signed a three-year, first-look deal with Blumhouse for film and TV projects, including the already underway horror project Mother Nature, on which Curtis is making her feature directorial debut and is co-writing with Comet Head of Film and TV Development Russell Goldman.
“I’m 61 and my motto now is: ‘If not now, when, if not me, who?’ I’m excited to have a creative home to explore my own ideas and others,” Curtis said in a statement. “Jason and his team have made me feel welcome. Comet is ready to bring these stories to screen life.“
In addition to Mother Nature, Curtis is set to reunite with Blumhouse for the highly-anticipated Halloween Kills, which is slated to hit theaters on October 16, as well as the third and reportedly final installment of the reboot series and long-running slasher franchise, Halloween Ends, which is currently set for an October 15, 2021 release.
