Entertainment News
2005-10-29
Alan Ball returns
to HBO with Southern Vampire
HBO has dug up a
new deal with gay Six Feet Under creator Alan
Ball, but this time he's switching from the de
HBO has dug up a
new deal with gay Six Feet Under creator Alan
Ball, but this time he's switching from the dead to
the undead. The first project covered under the two-year
development deal Ball signed with the premium cable
channel will be based on the Southern Vampire book
series.
Written by
Charlaine Harris, the series chronicles the intermingling
world of humans and monsters in contemporary rural
Louisiana, particularly vampires, thanks to a
synthetic blood formula that allows them to roam far
from their coffins. "The books are funny, scary, sexy,
romantic, bizarre, and really fun," Ball said. "I couldn't
put them down. I will try to remain as true to the spirit of
her book as possible." HBO has ordered an hour-long
pilot to be written and directed by Ball. There is no
set timetable for shooting the Southern pilot, but
Ball believed it would happen sometime next year.
Ball, who also
won an Oscar for writing American Beauty, last
created Six Feet Under, which revolved around a
family mortuary business. The Emmy-winning series ended
in August. "I was ready to do something a little lighter in
tone than Six Feet," Ball said. "Five years of
staring into the abyss was enough."
Bringing Ball
back into the fold represents a coup for HBO, which has
proved adept at getting the creators of its hit series to
come back for another try: Deadwood executive
producer David Milch recently signed a new deal, and
Sex and the City executive producer Michael
Patrick King already has completed a second series for
HBO, The Comeback.
"I had always
assumed that Alan was done with TV," said Carolyn
Strauss, HBO's president of entertainment. "I thought he was
going to do movies, so we didn't even try. Then he
read this book and said, 'I want to do this.' It was
really a beautiful surprise." Since burying Six
Feet Under, Ball has also written several
screenplays on spec and developed a theatrical production in
New York, All That I Will Ever Be. (Andrew
Wallenstein, via Reuters)
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