HBO, Mirren team for sci-fi drama

HBO is in development with the Scott brothers, Criminal Minds showrunner Simon Mirren and German partners on a Blade Runner-style series called The Sector.

Mirren is working on the show with Munich-based Tandem Communications and LA- and London-based Scott Free Productions, the company set up by Tony and Ridley Scott (Gladiator).

As well as Mirren and the Scott brothers, executive production duties are being shared with Anne Thomopoulos (Rome), Rola Bauer (The Pillars of the Earth), David W Zucker (The Good Wife) and Jonas Bauer (Impact).

The show is described as “a high-octane action/crime series in the vein of Blade Runner and District 9 that tracks the commander of a paramilitary unit who pursues a dangerous new race of genetically-enhanced humans.”

The series is destined to air on HBO’s Cinemax channel in the US, with Tandem execs shopping it at MipTV next week. It was written by Aaron Benay and Matthew Benay.

Tandem is currently in post-production on Treasure Guards, an event movie shot on location in South Africa, starring Anna Friel and Raoul Bova. It will be delivered in second quarter 2011.