Fox has greenlit Backstrom, giving the crime drama based on the book series by Swedish criminologist Leif G.W. Persson a 13 episode order. Mark Mylod (Entourage) directed the pilot and is on board as executive producer alongside series creator Hart Hanson (Bones), Niclas Salomonsson, and writer Persson.
Filming is expected to begin sometime in early 2014 on the one-hour drama.
The series stars Rainn Wilson (The Office) as Detective Everett Backstrom, an “offensive, irascible detective, as he tries, and fails, to change his self-destructive behavior. Throughout the series, Backstrom leads his team, the Serious Crimes Unit, as they navigate Portland’s most sensitive cases.”
“Hart Hanson and Rainn Wilson are the perfect combination of creative vision and on-screen talent to bring this one-of-a-kind character and story like Backstrom to FOX,” said Kevin Reilly, Chairman of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company. “I’ve been in business with Hart for a long time, and not only does he have a rare gift for infusing darker themes with relatable humor, he’s one of the best showrunners out there today. Together with Rainn – who absolutely nails this role and makes it a classic FOX character – I think we’ve got something really special here.”
“There are so few creators out there with the genuine ability to mix great procedural storytelling with humor, and Hart Hanson is one of those guys. Getting another show on the air with him has been a top priority of this company,” stated Twentieth Century Fox Television Chairmen and CEOs Gary Newman and Dana Walden. “And getting the amazing Rainn Wilson in the title role was quite simply a coup. His ‘Backstrom’ fits perfectly into FOX’s long history of dramas centered around a bigger-than-life iconic character.”
“Naturally, all of us who worked on Backstrom thought it was too promising a series to die unseen and Dana and Gary were relentless in their support of the project,” added Hanson. “Imagine our delight to find that Kevin Reilly and his team at FOX agreed enough to pick it up and give us a good home. Thanks FOX!”
And Rainn Wilson commented on his commitment to another TV series, saying he couldn’t be more thrilled than to tackle the role of Detective Everett Backstrom.
“For an actor, it’s rare to get a crack at a role of such intelligence, humor and complexity. He’s a delightfully disheveled misanthrope with a twisted, brilliant mind and a heart of barbed wire. Truly the role of a lifetime,” said Wilson. “Hart Hanson is an incredible writer and showrunner and I couldn’t be more excited to collaborate with him. Last but not least, FOX is the PERFECT home for this fun and disturbed piece of entertainment. They are passionate about the show and I’m ecstatic to be working with Kevin Reilly again (he launched The Office on NBC and fought tooth-and-nail for us to stay on the air, let’s not forget) and to be on the same network as my frenemy, Mindy Kaling.”
Details on the Pilot: “In the pilot episode, after the apparent suicide of a Senator’s son is ruled a homicide, the Portland Police Bureau’s Serious Crime Unit, led by Detective Backstrom (Wilson) must solve the case. Following the team’s arrival on the scene, forensics expert Sergeant Peter Niedermayer (Kristoffer Polaha) verifies that the death was indeed a homicide. This starts the trail for Backstrom and his team: Detective Nicole Gravely, Detective Sergeant John Almond (Dennis Haysbert), uniformed officer Frank Moto (Page Kennedy) and the tech-savvy Nadia Paquet (Beatrice Rosen).
Together, they must follow leads while trying to maintain a low profile in this highly scrutinized case.
