October 5, 2015
By Nancy Tartaglione
On the heels of deals for These Final Hours (Fox) and Taken (NBC), EuropaCorp Television Studios USA has set a third project at a U.S. network. Janus, an adaptation of the Austrian drama, has been put into development at ABC. The pilot is being written by Kevin O’Hare. Thor Freudenthal (Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters, Arrow) is attached to direct and co-exec produce. Freudenthal is represented by UTA, the Gotham Group and attorney Rob Szymanski.
Janus is a large pharmaceutical corporation that will stop at nothing to protect its image and maximize profits. Protagonist Leo is a forensic psychologist married to a pharmaceutical researcher. After his son is diagnosed as a psychopath, Leo refocuses his life to seek answers on how to help. When a rash of murder-suicides breaks out, he teams with a homicide detective and together they discover a shocking link between the victims and shadowy medical trials conducted by Janus.
EuropaCorp TV Studios USA launched last year as the U.S. outpost of Luc Besson’s French studio and with Matthew Gross as president. Gross noted today that there are another three deals currently in negotiations; two with American cable networks and one with a major streaming service. “This puts us ahead of where I thought we would be 12 months ago. In 2016, we should have two series in production,” he said.