Raised By Wolves to be piloted in America
- American TV network ABC is to pilot a remake of the cancelled Channel 4 sitcom Raised By Wolves
- The project is being overseen by Diablo Cody, who wrote the film Juno
- Creators Caitlin Moran and Caroline Moran are Executive Producers on the new format
American TV network ABC is to pilot a remake of Raised By Wolves, the British comedy that was cancelled by Channel 4.
Created by sisters Caitlin Moran and Caroline Moran, the family-focused premise of Raised By Wolves is partially based around stories from the duo's upbringing in a chaotic three bedroom council house. The show ran on Channel 4 between 2013 and 2016, but was cancelled last year despite winning Best Sitcom at the international Rose d'Or Awards. A subsequent Kickstarter campaign which aimed to raise £320,000 to film another episode failed to reach its target, with £200,207 pledged by the deadline.
However, American TV channel ABC has now given the go ahead for a US version of the show to be trialled. The network is currently looking to develop series that reflect the lives of everyday Americans and feels that a US-based version of Raised By Wolves would fit this brief.
Diablo Cody, who has previously penned films such as Juno and TV series such as One Mississippi, is overseeing the adaptation.
Deadline reports the new American version centres around Sheila Gable, "one tough mother struggling to support her five opinionated, eccentric kids on a shoestring budget in a Midwestern town."
The US pilot still shares the Raised By Wolves title with the original programme, even though there is no link to Wolverhampton, which was the setting of the UK version, in the new script.
Supergirl and Legends Of Tomorrow producer Greg Berlanti is working on the project via his production company Berlanti Productions.
Deadline explains that it is the company's president Sarah Schechter who has been championing the project. The TV trade news website explains: "As she began chasing rights to the series, Schechter reached out to Cody about joining the project as a producer, as Schechter felt that Caitlin Moran shared a similar sensibility with the Oscar winner and the show featured the type of central characters Cody knows and does very well: smart teenagers and a strong mother. Not only did Cody come on board, she offered to write the adaptation. After securing US rights from UK producer Big Talk in a competitive situation, Berlanti Productions went on to develop the project internally, with Cody writing a pilot script, tapping into her Midwest upbringing to transplant the comedy from the British Midlands to middle America. Caitlin Moran was involved in the process, giving notes."
The British team of Caitlin Moran, Caroline Moran, Kenton Allen, Matthew Justice and Caroline Leddy are all named as Executive Producers on the new version, however there is no news yet on which American actors will take on the new versions of the characters.
The ABC deal has a "penalty" clause in it, meaning if the network doesn't broadcast the pilot that is filmed it will have to pay a large fee to the production company.
Further details on the pilot are expected to be revealed as it approaches time to film the episode.