Monday, March 12, 2007

Replacing John Simm? Not easy, it seems.

Hollywood is struggling to find somebody worthy of filling John Simm's shoes for the US pilot of Life on Mars. Ally McBeal creator David E Kelley is creating a new version of the hit Kudos/BBC drama, but Variety reports he has run into problems finding an actor to cast in the lead role. As a consequence, the pilot is being pushed back, meaning the series would get a mid-season launch early in 2008 if it gets picked up. Variety says:
ABC execs and Kelley remain high on the project, which is an adaptation of the BBC skein about a detective who somehow travels to the past (where he works to solve his girlfriend's present-day abduction). Kelley and ABC hope to revisit the casting process after pilot season, when many more actors currently committed to other projects will be available. "After a thorough search, we still haven't been able to find the right actor for this role," Kelley said. "Life on Mars is a project whose success relies heavily on the strength of its lead actors, and rather than compromise we prefer to keep looking and shoot for midseason."

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