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NBC is looking for its own Ten Commandments.
The network is developing a 10-hour miniseries based on the Danish format called Decalogue, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Decalogue examines the Ten Commandments in a modern setting. The original series ran in 1989 and consisted of 10 one-hour films, with each short exploring one or several moral and ethical issues. The NBC adaptation would follow the same format.
The Good Wife alum Todd E. Kessler (The Good Wife, Pan Am) is on board to pen the script for the project, which is being executive produced by Steve McPherson. A studio is not yet attached yet.
The original series won a National Board of Review special citation in 2000 as well as prizes at festivals including Venice, Sao Paulo, San Sebastian and more. The series counted fans in Roger Ebert and Stanley Kubrick, who wrote the introduction to the DVD set and a foreword to the published screenplay, respectively.
The news comes as religion continues to be a hot genre on both broadcast and cable.
WGN America is also prepping a 10-episode scripted event series called Ten Commandments from The Weinstein Co. Gus Van Sant, Lee Daniels, Jim Sheridan, Wes Craven and Michael Cera are among those attached to direct episodes of the mini, which like the NBC series include a modern interpretation to each commandment. Lifetime is also prepping two-night mini The Red Tent, based on Dinah, a minor character in the Bible; Fox is developing a Nazareth event series; and CBS has four-hour entry The Dovekeepers, from The Bible‘s Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. The duo are also readying A.D., the 12-hour follow-up to The Bible.
Decalogue also marks the latest TV foray for former ABC Entertainment chief McPherson, who had several projects in consideration last development season. One of them,Jane Kaczmarek comedy No Place Like Home, went to pilot at Fox but did not move forward.
Sept. 2, 4:35 p.m. NBC erroneously confirmed that Damages co-creator Todd A. Kessler was attached to pen the script. This story has been updated to reflect the correct information.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
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