The CW delays ‘Wonder Woman’ pilot; orders more from ‘Vampire Diaries’ exec
Once again, “Wonder Woman” is facing some problems making it to the small screen. It was just two years ago that the much-hyped NBC project featuring Adrianne Palicki in the leading role ended up flopping at the pilot stage; and now, The CW has decided to delay seeing a pilot for the DC Comics adaptation altogether.
The network announced on Monday a number of pilots that they are going to look at for the fall TV season; but unfortunately for comic fans everywhere, the origin story “Amazon” was not one of them. Why not? Sources tell Deadline that the issue here was not necessarily that the network hated the pitch for the show, but they felt that it needed more time to become the great project that they need it to be.
The last we had heard about this project, producers were actually hoping to cast the lead early so that they could be used in part to help market the project. This has not happened yet. Instead, this extra time will be given to hammer out a solid script, and the network could actually consider the show for an off-cycle pilot a little later in the year if it is ready around that time.
While this may not be the best news ever for “Wonder Woman” fans, there are still two very tangible reasons why they should not give up hope at all in this show:
1. The CW is very loyal to properties that they cultivate; for example, “The Selection” made it to the pilot stage this year despite being delayed in similar fashion in 2012.
2. They desperately want another superhero franchise to place alongside the hit “Arrow” on the schedule, and pretty much everything that they have done with DC has been ratings gold for them.
For those curious, the network also ordered the show “Tomorrow People” from Greg Berlanti and “The Vampire Diaries” exec Julie Plec, which is pretty much “Heroes” set in the future (though it is based on a series that was on British TV long before “Heroes” debuted on NBC). Plec also has a backdoor pilot for the “Vampire Diaries” spin-off “The Originals.”
Photo: The CW
Patrick
January 28, 2013 @ 11:03 pm
They need t ditch the Wonder Woman TV show. She can become an iconic on television but more importantly a movie icon. There are three keys to success…for a movie:
1) The movie should not be too expensive. The model to follow is the Underworld series which was made for about $75 million each movie. But brought in about $160 million worldwide. While a Wonder Woman movie would almost certainly top that, people should not expect a multi-billion dollar franchise.
2) The movie should be grounded in reality (even if it means changing her origin story) to move away from the Greek mythology angle. They might allude to it but it should be in the on the back burner.
3) Finally they should find a villain that would take Wonder Woman to task. Someone as strong or stronger who presents a challenge so formidable it would create a good deal of tension. The problem is that no one from her rogues gallery really presents that challenge. Therefore one should be invented…a sort of Bane to Wonder Woman’s Batman.