North gets ABC pilot command; Jay Ellis stars in the spinoff
Jay Ellis (Running point, all her fault) is set to the address Ascending: North, Alexi Hawley’s highly anticipated spin-off from the long-running ABC drama Rising. With him on board, the network picked up the long-awaited pilot project, which Hawley wrote and directed.
Closing Ellis’ deal took some scheduling work since the in-demand actor is also a series regular on the upcoming Hulu comedy Not suitable for work As well as being repeated on Netflix Running point. If the pilot goes to series, it will be able to do both Ascending: North, Co-produced by Lionsgate, Hulu, ABC sibling 20th TV, and Not suitable for workfrom Warner Bros. Television.
Unlike the first junior spin off, Beginner: The Fedswhich starred Niecy Nash as the oldest rookie in the FBI Academy, Rising: North It closely follows the premise of the Mother series starring Nathan Fillion. The film is also about a middle-aged man who becomes the most senior rookie cop while moving the setting from an urban environment (Los Angeles) to a rural environment (Washington State). Ellis will play a character whose name, Alex Holland, resembles Alexi Hawley. (The last name also rhymes with the noun Rising The role is played by John Nolan, played by Fillion.)
Alex Holland (Ellis) believes his middle age wasn’t worth the crisis. But after a violent home invasion ignites a dormant target, Alex fights back against a lifetime of failed commitments by joining the Pierce County Police Department as their top rookie. As he polices from the urban coast to the rural jungle where backup is only 5 minutes away, Alex must prove to a skeptical training officer, his fellow rookies, and himself that he has finally found something worth fighting for.
Hawley executive produces via Perfectman Pictures alongside Fillion, Mark Gordon, Bill Norcross and Michelle Chapman. Ellis is a producer.
This marks ABC’s second drama pilot this season, Next R. J. Deckerstarring Scott Speedman, who was recently picked up for the series. (The network also has a comedy pilot Do you want children?? Starring Rachel Bloom and Rory Scoville.)
Deadline exclusively revealed last December that ABC was developing a sequel junior The film is set in Hawley, Washington.
“There’s a script, I’ve been doing some drafts and getting some notes,” he told Deadline in May.
By early July, Rising: North It was under serious pilot study at ABC as part of the network’s “second cycle” strategy. As Deadline reported at the time, the pilot order was contingent on casting the lead role.
After a short scouting search for talent, all parties stopped working to wait for the new cycle when more big names became available and to give the script more time. ABC brass were looking for someone of Speedman’s caliber, which they have now found in Ellis.
“I think we’re looking at shooting a pilot in the spring or late winter, so we’re preparing for that,” Hawley told Deadline in early September.
Ellis, winner of the NAACP Image Award insecureexists in two current successful series. He is part of the main cast of the Peacock limited series All her fault, Which recently launched to strong viewership, and returns to comedy on Netflix running point, Which returns for season two. Ellis, also known as Top Gun: Maverick And Lionsgate freaky tales, He is repped by UTA, Entertainment 360, Hansen, Jacobson, Teller and Hoberman.
Hawley is the creator, writer and director Risingwhose upcoming eighth season will premiere on ABC on January 6. He previously created and was showrunner on the Netflix spy drama recruiter, Which ran for two seasons, and he co-created and co-presented it Rising: Federalists, Which aired on ABC for one season. He also directed the film’s seventh season premiere Rising And the end of the second season of Recruiter. Hawley, whose company Perfectman Pictures has an overall deal at Lionsgate Television, is repped by Shuman, Hansen, Jacobson, Teller and Hoberman.