Awake starring Jason Isaacs

[Sawyer]

REM
STUDIO: 20th Century Fox TV
PRODUCING TEAM: Kyle Killen (w.ep), Howard Gordon (ep), David Slade (d)
LOGLINE: An Inception-style thriller centering on a cop (Jason Isaacs) who wakes up after an accident to find he is living in two different realities.
CAST: Jason Isaacs

Jason Isaacs To Star In NBC Pilot 'REM'
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

EXCLUSIVE: One of the hottest actors this pilot season, Jason Isaacs, is off the market. After fielding more than half-dozen offers, Isaacs has settled on the lead role in NBC's drama pilot REM, from Lone Star creator Kyle Killen and 20th Century Fox TV. In addition to starring, Isaacs will serve as producer on the project, described as an Inception-style thriller. It centers on a cop (Isaacs) who wakes up after an accident to find he is living in two different realities. The casting of Isaacs lifts the contingency on the pilot, exec produced/run by former 24 showrunner Howard Gordon. 20th TV-based Tim Minear serves as a consulting producer.

REM brings Brit Isaacs back to 20th TV where he starred in the drama pilot for Fox Pleading Guilty last season. Additionally, he developing and producing a drama project at 20th TV's cable division Fox 21. Safe, set up at FX, is being written by Chris Gerolmo.

Brotherhood star Isaacs had been in demand since the Showtime drama ended in 2008. He was first pursued in the 2009 pilot season but was unavailable because of commitments to the Harry Potter movies, in which he plays Lucius Malfoy. Last pilot season, he received eight offers and went with Pleading Guilty. Isaacs, repped by Gersh, the Collective, U.K.'s Independent Talent and attorney Karl Austen, will next be seen in the final Harry Potter movie and the Taylor Lautner starrer Abduction.

Five Actors Cast In Kyle Killen's 'REM' Pilot
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

That '70s Show alum Wilmer Valderrama, The Practice veteran Steve Harris and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit co-star BD Wong have been cast opposite Jason Isaacs in NBC's drama pilot REM, from Lone Star creator Kyle Killen and 20th Century Fox TV. Also cast in the project, described as an Inception-style thriller, are Laura Allen (Terriers) and teen Dylan Minnette. REM centers on Detective Mark Britten (Isaacs), who wakes up after an accident to find he is living in two different realities, one in which he has killed his son Rex (Minnette) and one in which he has killed his wife Hannah. Valderrama will play Detective Richard Vega, Britten's gregarious new partner in one reality, while Harris will play a seasoned, cynical, wry-humored police detective who's Britten's partner in the other reality. Wong will play Britten's therapist in the reality where he has killed his son. Allen will play Rex's tennis coach, who has become his confidante in the wake of the recent loss of his mother. Valderrama's casting stems from his talent deal with 20th TV.

The team-up of Lucius Malfoy and Fez has to be one of the strangest I've ever seen, and damn if it doesn't make me all the more interested in this.

 

[Asgard]

Sounds cool. Ill check it out if I can. Seems almost like Life on Mars.

I dont care for Wilmer though. I dont really like him.

 

[Anno_Domini]

Originality was thrown out of the window as soon as they added in 'Inception'.

 

[Sawyer]

Too bad this sounds next to nothing like Inception.

 

[Anno_Domini]

Too bad this sounds next to nothing like Inception.

Oh, I know. It sounds more like Life on Mars, but still, the usage of Inception is ridiculous and they're only trying to get in some demographic that enjoyed the film, which is just stupid. If this is "next to nothing", then don't bring in the movie. You don't see ABC saying, "A Gilligan's Island-style show, LOST is about a plane full of random citizens crashing in an island and have to find a way back home".

 

[dsfjr1190]

A lengthy review of the pilot script. I'm definitely going to be tuning in to this. Even if it will be difficult to root for Lucius Malfoy.

http://travisyanan.blogspot.com/2011/03/pilot-script-review-rem.html

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2011/03/pil...moted-to-female-lead-on-nbcs-rem/#more-115931

Pilot Rarity: Laura Allen Promoted To Female Lead On NBC's 'REM'
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

A week ago, Terriers co-star Laura Allen got good news when she was cast in a supporting role on NBC's drama pilot REM. Today, which happens to be her birthday, she got even better news - in a pilot rarity, she was bumped up to female lead of the project opposite Jason Isaacs. Meanwhile, Law & Order: SVU alumna Michaela McManus, who tested opposite Allen for the supporting role of Tara, has now been cast in that role.

REM, from creator/executive producer Kyle Killen and 20th TV, is described as an Inception-style thriller and centers on Detective Michael Britten (Isaacs), who wakes up after an accident to find he is living in two different realities, one in which he has killed his son Rex (Dylan Minnette) and one in which he has killed his wife Hannah (Allen) in a car accident. McManus will play Rex's tennis coach, who has become his confidante in the wake of the recent loss of his mother.

Trying out Allen for the Hannah role was an idea of former 24 showrunner Howard Gordon, who serves as exec producer/showrunner on the REM pilot. After what was described as a "terrific read" with Isaacs this afternoon, Allen landed the part. The cast of the pilot, directed/exec produced by David Slade, is now complete. It includes Isaacs, Allen, Cherry Jones, Steve Harris, Wilmer Valderrama, Minnette and McManus. REM reunites Allen, repped by Gersh and Impression Entertainment, with 20th TV whose cable division produced Terriers. McManus, repped by UTA and Principal Entertainment, currently recurs on CW's The Vampire Diaries.

Michaela McManus, you say? Definitely in now.

 

[dsfjr1190]

Michaela McManus? Isn't she the CW actress that no one likes?

 

[Sawyer]

No...

Actually, maybe. But she's hot, so who cares?

[YT]NdhXyBgN_QU[/YT]

 

[Project862006]

looks epic

 

[Shifty]

NBC is keeping it back for midseason, looks great.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Looks ok, not sure how long the premise will hold up.

 

[Asgard]

The review of the pilot has really piqued my interest, moreso than the "it's like Inception!" tag.

I especially liked how there seems to be no rest for Mark's mind. It seems like living in one reality and falling asleep only to find yourself awake in a totally different one looks to be leading him to insanity. Itd be cool if that happens and both worlds collide and cause a cluster**** of madness.

My only worry is that by the end of the series, and judging by the pilot review audiences might tune out because of the somewhat complicated premise resulting in cancellation before its intended finale, we find out that the truth of Mark Britten is that neither reality hes living is real and hes really just in a coma.

 

[The Morningstar]

Originality was thrown out of the window as soon as they added in 'Inception'.

Yes because Inception was the first piece of fiction that dealt with the blurring of reality and dreamscapes...

 

[O'Haire]

Watched the trailer for this. Looks interesting. Plus Jason Isaacs is awesome.

 

[Sawyer]

THURSDAY, JULY 21
3:45 pm Awake | Cast: Jason Isaacs; Producers: Howard Gordon, Kyle Killen (Room 6A)

Bumped for the upcoming Comic-Con panel.

Also, if any mod is reading this, can we get the title changed to "Awake starring Jason Isaacs", just to avoid any further confusion? It would be very much appreciated.

 

[carrrnuttt]

Just saw the preview of this. Subscribing for the apparent awesome.

I just hope this doesn't go the way of the other "shifter" (time-shift/reality-shift) show on NBC I loved: Journeyman.

 

[Sawyer]

NBC's Awake stops production to work on scripts

I hope that's not a bad sign.

 

[Sawyer]

NBC has announced it's midseason schedule and Awake isn't on it....

NBC, I am disappoint.

 

[O'Haire]

NBC has announced it's midseason schedule and Awake isn't on it....

NBC, I am disappoint.

Me too. Was actually really looking forward to this.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/nbc-awake-jason-isaacs-tca/

NBC Hopes Viewers ‘Awake’ To Series Possibilities: TCA
By THE DEADLINE TEAM

Producers and stars of the new series Awake, created by Kyle Killen (Lone Star), tried to reassure journalists today at TCA that the storyline — about a detective living in two realities where clues to his cases overlap — will not be overly confusing. NBC appears convinced that audiences will get it — the network has ordered 13 episodes of the drama, executive producer Howard Gordon confirmed. Premiere date is TBA. Gordon said that a three-week production hiatus in October was not an indication the show was going off-track. “We were very lucky that we didn’t have an airdate, this was a challenging show for us to figure out,” he said. “We could have kept going, but the three-week hiatus gave us a chance to sort of get our heads together and learn from the distance we had traveled.”

A little more plot: After a car accident Jason Isaacs’ detective Michael Britten finds himself awake in two worlds. In one, his wife survives. In the other, his teenage son is the one who lives. The detective doesn’t know which world is real. BD Wong and Cherry Jones portray his therapists in these parallel worlds, each trying to persuade him the other world is not real. Isaacs insisted the story is simple enough for a child to grasp. How does he know? He said his 5-year-old daughter managed to send the plot to a friend on her iPhone, and the friend understood it. Gordon chimed in, “It’s a fairly get-able concept.” Killen described the writing process as akin to “putting together a Rubik’s Cube every eight days.” But he also said each episode would be able to stand alone. “It’s a dramatic procedural, a puzzle every week,” her said. “At its heart, it’s a unique twist on the procedural dramas that you are actually very used to.”

One thing’s for sure: The show will not end with the lame “It was all a dream.” Said Killen: “There are 100 ways out, but 99 of them are probably unsatisfying to most of the population. I personally believe ‘It was all a dream’ is not particularly satisfying. We will work hard to avoid frustrating ourselves and you if we have the opportunity to wrap it all up 8 or 9 years from now.” Isaac added that the producers and cast know more about what’s imagined and what’s not than they are letting on. To the question of whether they know how the story will resolve, Isaacs replied, “The answer, I’m afraid to say, is we do. We have a plan, and we’re never going to tell anyone, so stop asking us.”

That's all fine and well, but I want a ****ing airdate.

 

[carrrnuttt]

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/nbc-awake-jason-isaacs-tca/

That's all fine and well, but I want a ****ing airdate.

What he said.

 

[Project862006]

New Promo for Awake

looks amazing

 

[Sawyer]

I just wish NBC would give this a ****ing airdate.

 

[enterthemadness]

New Promo for Awake

looks amazing

Winner winner, chicken dinner...oh wait..not on NBC.

I do hope it airs and is promoted.