TNT recruits Wonder Woman talent

US cablenet TNT has handed a straight-to-series order to a drama that reunites Wonder Woman actor Chris Pine with the hit film’s director, Patty Jenkins.

TNT is bringing back Animal Kingdom for a third season

One Day She’ll Darken will star Pine (Star Trek) and be executive produced by Jenkins, who is onboard to direct the first episode and potentially others in the six-episode series.

The drama is inspired by the autobiography of Fauna Hodel, who was given away by her teenage mother to a black restroom attendant in a Nevada casino in 1949.

As Fauna begins to investigate the secrets to her past, she follows a sinister trail linked to the legendary ‘Black Dahlia’ murder of Elizabeth Short in LA in 1947.

The show will begin shooting with Studio T this fall. Sam Sheridan, author of A Fighter’s Heart and The Disaster Diaries, is set to write all six episodes. Wonder Woman is currently the 17th highest-grossing feature film of all time.

The order comes as TNT renews another of its original dramas, Animal Kingdom, for a third season.

Meanwhile, TNT’s fellow Turner-owned cablenet TBS has added series including an update of the classic gameshow The Joker’s Wild, fronted by rapper and actor Snoop Dogg, to its fall line-up.

Snoop Dogg Presents the Joker’s Wild will be produced by Sony Pictures Television, in association with Turner’s Studio T.

The format will see Snoop Dogg task contestants with answering streetwise questions and solving problems in a casino complete with a gigantic slot machine, as well as giant dice and playing cards.

TBS is also gearing up to air The Last OG, which was co-created by and will star comedian and actor Tracy Morgan, this fall. The series will be executive produced by co-creators Jordan Peele and John Carcieri.

The scripted series follows an ex-con who is shocked to see just how much the world has changed when he is released from prison for good behaviour after 15 years inside.

The third new series launching on TBS this fall will be the previously announced Drop the Mic, which sees four celebrities battling each other in a rap competition, with the audience picking the winner.

It marks the latest segment from the UK actor’s CBS talkshow to be turned into a longform TV series, following Apple’s Carpool Karaoke.

Meanwhile, Turner Entertainment chief creative officer Kevin Reilly has predicted that the cable industry will begin to shrink in the next few years as certain TV channels disappear.

The exec, who has been in the process of overhauling the schedules of TBS and TNT since becoming president of the two networks in 2015, said that the industry will see greater consolidation in the future.

Speaking during Turner’s TCA presentation yesterday, Reilly said: “Floating 15 networks will not be sustainable going forwards.” He added that Turner does not have the problem of an oversized channels operation.

“It’s an incredibly vibrant time, there’s more viewing than ever before. If you figure out how to be a part of that, there’s a feast to be had,” said Reilly.