The CW has given a straight-to-series order for a reboot of “The 4400,” while three other projects are moving forward with pilots, including Ava DuVernay’s “Naomi” and the “Powerpuff Girls” live-action series.
“The 4400” is based on the USA Network series of the same name, which ran for four seasons starting in 2004 and featured a then-unknown Mahershala Ali.
In the CW version, 4,400 overlooked, undervalued or otherwise marginalized people who vanished without a trace over the last 100 years are all returned in an instant, having not aged a day and with no memory of what happened to them. As the government races to analyze the potential threat and contain the story, the 4,400 themselves must grapple with the fact that they’ve been returned with a few… upgrades, and the increasing likelihood that they were all brought back now for a specific reason.
The new version of “The 4400” is being led by Ariana Jackson, who will write and executive produce alongside Anna Fricke and Laura Terry.
“Powerpuff Girls,” a new version of the beloved Cartoon Network series created by Craig McCracken, follows heroines Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup as “disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime-fighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever?”
Greg Berlanti executive produces for his Berlanti Productions with Sarah Schechter and David Madden. Heather Regnier writes and executive produces, as does Diablo Cody for Vita Vera Films.
DuVernay’s “Naomi” is based on the DC Comics character of the same name. “Naomi” follows a teen girl’s journey from her small northwestern town to the heights of the multiverse. When a supernatural event shakes her hometown to the core, Naomi sets out to uncover its origins, and what she discovers will challenge everything we believe about our heroes.
DuVernay executive produces and writes with Jill Blankenship. Warner Bros. TV, where DuVernay is under an overall deal, would be the studio. Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes will also produce for DuVernay’s Array Filmworks.
Additionally, The CW has given a pilot order to the untitled project from “Jane the Virgin” creator Jennie Snyder Urman. The series is about two millennial nuns — a devout true believer and a new arrival who has yet to take her final vows — who start as strangers and become sisters on a funny, spiritual journey to understand their own faith and place in the Catholic Church.
Urman executive produces with Joanna Klein, with Claire Rothrock and Ryann Weir writing.