LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The CW kicked off its day at the TCA Winter Press Tour with an executive session in which its President Mark Pedowitz gave updates on the netlet's various series as well as several projects in development.
Here's a breakdown of the highlights:
"The Originals," a spin-off of "The Vampire Diaries." "We're basically going to go and focus on the Original family." Adding, "the character will be Klaus (Joseph Morgan). Hopefully some of his siblings will join along. Klaus was one of the founding fathers of New Orleans and the show will be set in that venue. Klaus is a great character and the Original family has this great dysfunctional family dynamic. We thought that was a great way to go to take the show." As far as Phoebe Tonkin being involved, Pedowitz said "at the moment Phoebe will be coming on board the spin-off."
"Amazon," a "Smallville"-esque take on Wonder Woman from Allan Heinberg. "First off we're waiting to see the script. Second of all we're busy casting." Pedowitz added that he's never seen NBC's David E. Kelley-penned take. "[Ours] is an origination story in the sense that 'Smallville' is an origination story. I don't believe that was David's original premise."
"The Selection," its previously piloted drama from Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain. "[The new] script just came in, very well done, we have not made our pilot choices and yes it's still in contention."
"Wunderland," a contemporary re-imagining of "Alice in Wonderland" from Chad Hodge. "The script has come in. It's in contention so we'll see what happens with it one way or the other." Pedowitz would add they're planning to order "seven or eight pilots" this season with decisions coming in a couple of weeks.
A small screen take on "Battle Royale." "It's taken on a life of its own," he said about the much-ballyhooed project. "There was one phone call last summer before the press tour to see if the books were available. They were not so we were not able to do anything. At this time we are not planning to do anything with 'Battle Royale.'"
A ninth season of "Supernatural." "Nothing's been announced yet, no determination has been made. We are pleased with how Wednesday night clearly has worked out... I think creatively the show is in a great place and there's always a good shot that could happen.
The chances of other shows returning. Pedowitz gave a few comments about the futures of "Beauty and the Beast" ("We believe the show has a very long run inside of it."), "Hart of Dixie" ("It stands out on a tough Tuesday night. It has a very strong DVR presence and VOD presence as well as online."), "Nikita" ("It's performing on par with our expectation. I'm a fan of the show, I like the show.") and "90210" ("No determination made for next season yet"). He would later add that regardless of their fates, "I'm a big believer [as evidenced by 'One Tree Hill' and 'Gossip Girl'] in giving fans a very satisfactory conclusion."
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