An exclusive from Deadline revealed that Davis Entertainment President John Fox (Uglies, Dolemite Is My Name) and Dean Georgaris (The Meg, Meg 2: The Trench) have sold a dramatic series project to Hulu. This comes in the midst of awaiting decisions from their NBC pilot Key Witness.
The series, named by Deadline as Close Protection, is a romantic thriller co-created by Fox and Georgaris (the latter of which also acts as writer), following the story of an American bodyguard protecting a British princess. This premise resembles an idea that Kevin Costner (Man of Steel, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit) had in mind for a sequel to his 1992 movie The Bodyguard; his character Frank Farmer would have been charged with protecting Princess Diana, but the plot was scrapped after her tragic death.
Notably, the series is one of many incoming stories in the romantasy genre (romantic fantasy) that have risen in popularity – Deadline reports that Netflix is in the process of adapting author Katherine Center’s (The Love Haters, The Rom-Commers: A Novel) novel The Bodyguard into upcoming 2026 holiday rom-com Guarding Stars, starring Jared Padalecki (Supernatural, Gilmore Girls) and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl, The Roommate).
Georgaris and Fox, via Deadline, will executive produce alongside Davis Entertainment founder John Davis (The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Harold and the Purple Crayon). Both have deals with Universal Television, who is in the studio for the series. Georgaris is repped by Robert Offer at Sloane Offer Weber & Dern and CAA.
Their shared NBC drama pilot Key Witness, from Deadline, stars Emily Deschanel (Bones, Animal Kingdom) as “a trailblazing psychologist who challenges the field of criminology by shifting the investigative focus to the victim rather than just the perpetrator in order to uncover the crucial clues that more traditional methods leave behind.” At this time, it is believed to be in serious contention for a series pickup at the network.