Bakula Sets TV Movie Slate
By Adam Sandler
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Scott Bakula has signed to star in The Immortal, a tale about a genetic scientist who fights to keep his discovery of immortality from falling into the wrong hands. The telefilm, which is scribbled by Rod Taylor, is being fashioned for a bow on cabler Showtime.
[Editor's note: This project was cancelled]
The pic is the leadoff batter of an ambitious lineup of features and telefilms to be produced via Bakula Prods., the actor's production outfit, which recently inked a first-look pact with Paramount Network TV.
Bakula -- who is perhaps best known for starring in NBC's Quantum Leap and has co-starred in numerous telefilms since the series ended -- and producing partner Tom Spiroff envision a slate that boasts two to three telefilms annually and one or two features when the BPI banner is running at full tilt.
The company has recently optioned several scripts, including
Papa Jack, an epic biographical story set in the 1900s of the controversial first black heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson; and
Strike Mom, a lighthearted
family drama based on Michele Tribout's tome about a mom who gets tired of doing everything for everybody else and quits.
``We prefer not to do big studio (pics), but rather unique and distinctive stories that are period pieces or tell of personal heroics,'' Bakula told Daily Variety. ``We like films that push the envelope a little bit, even though they may also be tough sells to studios. So when they get made, it's particularly gratifying.''
Features wending their way through the system include
Nite Club Confidential, the 1950s-era tale by Dennis Deal which revolves around an opportunistic singer who becomes embroiled in a love triangle that costs him much more than his career, and
For Angela -- and the Kids, a black comedy by Richard Holland set in Brooklyn involving a libidinous housewife who inadvertently carries on the family name through a bizarre plot twist. The latter pic is a co-
production with Frances Films.
``It's my hope that in five years the company is running independent of me and becomes a place where creative people can run with the projects,'' said Bakula. ``But that's not to say if a great story came along, I'd be averse to being in it.''
Bakula said he'd like to keep budgets for the films under $10 million, a highly competitive arena. ``I'd like to think that the climate is always right for great stories, even though there seems to be a lot of product being made,'' he said.
Bakula also has a number of TV projects in the hopper that are outside the Par pact, including
Stanky United, Hold the Fort and the Showtime-Viacom Prods. pic Canyon Ellis.
Canyon Ellis, the Paul Birnbaum-scripted action-comedy, details a Reagan-era banker who shifts from hustling deals in Honduras to help his ex-wife investigate the disappearance of her second husband.
Stanky United, by scribe Jerry Colker, is the story of an estranged father and son who are brought together via the world of soccer;
Fort, by Jeff Taylor, chronicles the Fort family and their struggles with the modern world while trying to maintain their family values. It is being positioned as a half-hour comedy.
Bakula will hit the bigscreen April 17 [1998] as Gus Cantrell in Warner Bros.-Morgan Creek's Major League III: Back to the Minors. Bakula Prods. last produced the CBS series Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Reuters/Variety
[Editor's note 8/12/98 - the status of all of these projects (other than the Immortal) is currently unknown ]