Bell preps Salamander remake

Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis and the creators of Flashpoint are attached to Bell Media’s burgeoning roster of new TV drama projects, which includes a remake of Belgian crime thriller Salamander.

The Canadian broadcaster, which runs CTV and speciality channels Bravo, Much and Comedy, has confirmed it has 29 drama projects in development for its various networks.

They include Lords of Opium, an hour-long historical drama about China’s late 19th century opium trade, from Crash director Haggis, who will exec produce the project.

Flashpoint creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern are working on Salamander, a detective drama based on the Dutch-language Belgian series from Skyline Entertainment – picked up by BBC4 in the UK last year. Flashpoint exec producers Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos also have individual untitled projects underway with Bell.

The slate also includes Private Practice producer/writer Steve Blackman developing Mighty Quinns, about a family of con artists turned crime solvers from Lark Productions.

Meanwhile, Don Carmody Productions – the Canadian prodco behind feature films Goon and the Resident Evil franchise – is working on Echoes, in which earth becomes the battlefield for two extraterrestrial species.

Bell Media previously announced 20 projects for potential new pilots and/or series. The company said factual development projects will be announced at a later date.

Other drama projects on the new slate include:

• Ice, from Miss Congeniality write Katie Ford, about a suburban woman who turns to diamond theft after losing all her money in a divorce.
• AKA, a serialised drama about a woman with the perfect life – and a dark secret that could change everything.
• Cardinal Mysteries, based on the novels by Giles Blunt, which centres on the investigation of a serial murder.
• Tranquility, from Battlestar Galactica producer Mark Verheiden, about a troubled ex-cop who becomes a sheriff of a colony on the moon.