The Hollywood Reporter reports that Showtime has passed on four of the network’s projects: the Gattaca reboot, Seasoned, Split, and Sweetness. Sony Pictures Television produces Gattaca and Sweetness and plans to shop both of the projects.
Showtime programming was combined with Paramount+ to give the streaming service the scale of content to compete with other streamers like Max and Netflix. Chris McCarthy (The T Word, Gone Country) oversees Showtime and controls almost all of Paramount Global’s linear networks.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Showtime has declined to comment.
The reboot of Gattaca would have reunited Homeland duo Alex Gansa (Accused, Dawson’s Creek) and Howard Gordon (24, Legends) with Paramount Global. Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club, The 33) had been attached to develop the project along with Gordon and Ganza. The 1997 film Gattaca starred Uma Thurman (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction) and Ethan Hawke (Dead Poets Society, Before Sunrise) and was written and directed by Andrew Niccol (Lord of War, The Truman Show). It was produced by Gail Lyon (Edge of Darkness, Stick It), Danny DeVito (Taxi, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Stacey Sher (Get a Job, Get Shorty), and Michael Shamberg (The Big Chill, A Fish Called Wanda).
Seasoned had a six-episode series order at Showtime and came from Jax Media. Ewen Wright (Falling, Validation) and Gideon Grody-Patinkin (No Fortunate One, Def Poetry) co-created the series and co-wrote the pilot.
Sweetness came from Sony TV and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Barbie), who wrote the script on spec. The project was described as a female-driven anthology series that took place in a town full of grieving widows, a rom-com leading lady with a dark fixation, a couple of bored schoolgirls, and Princess Diana’s biggest fan.
Split was produced by CAA-backed Wiiip and was about the double life of Josh Solomon. It was a double-agent dramatic thriller.