It might be called "Fringe," but this script was smack in the center of every network's radar screen for the past several months.

After a heated bidding, Fox landed the sci-fi spec by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci with a big series commitment.

No one would comment on the terms of the deal, but sources said it includes a budget for the two-hour pilot for about $10 million -- the ballpark of Abrams' two-hour pilot for "Lost" -- as well as an episode license fee close to $2 million.

The pact also includes a digital component mirroring the template of WBTV's groundbreaking recent agreement with ABC.

"Fringe," which Abrams' Bad Robot is producing with Warner Bros. TV, centers on a young female FBI agent who, forced to confront the spread of powerful and unexplained phenomena, must work with an institutionalized scientist whose life's work may be at the center of the coming storm.

"Science is frightening and enlightening at the same time," Orci said. "It can give you everything, and it can destroy you."

The industry circles have been buzzing all summer about the top-secret spec script that Abrams was writing with Kurtzman and Orci. It marked the first TV writing duties for Abrams in more than three years, since ABC's "Lost," as well as the return to television of Kurtzman and Orci, one of the hottest feature writing teams at the moment.

Like everybody else, Fox's entertainment chairman Peter Liguori and president Kevin Reilly were tracking the project, and even by the very vague logline floating around, felt it was "bull's-eye for Fox."

WBTV sent out the script to the networks Monday night. By Tuesday morning, Liguori and Reilly had read it.

"It was exactly what we hoped for," Reilly said. "There is a track record of this type of show working on Fox, and these creators have proven themselves with this type of material."

Fox has been trying for years to develop a successor to its hit sci-fi drama "The X-Files."

Kurtzman and Orci first worked with Abrams on "Alias," his drama for ABC, and went on to write "Mission: Impossible III" with him. They also penned Abrams' upcoming movie "Star Trek." In fact, it was between production meetings on "Trek" that "Fringe" was born and written.

"We took all the elements we love about genres such as horror and adventure and gave it an emotional center," Kurtzman said.

The three list as influences David Cronenberg and the 1980s films "Altered States" and "Real Genius."

Casting on the two-hour pilot is expected to begin shortly, with production slated to wrap by year's end.

With "Trek" going into production shortly and Kurtzman and Orci also tapped to write the sequel to the blockbuster "Transformers," which they also penned, it is not clear who will run "Fringe." But Fox execs are not worried.

"One of the great things about those guys is they put their heart and soul into their projects, so they're not likely to be sending their precious child to boarding school quickly," Liguori said.

Indeed, Abrams plans to be hands-on, especially in the casting the three main characters: the FBI agent; the scientist, described as a mix of Einstein and Dr. Frankenstein; and his grownup son, with whom he has a dysfunctional relationship.

Would he cast old favorite Keri Russell as the lead?

"I can't stop casting her," he quipped.

"Fringe" marks Abrams' first project outside of the Disney family.

"It is a nice opportunity to work with Fox," he said. "I felt for a long time that it is compatible with the things I'm interested in."

Under his overall deal with WBTV, Abrams also recently landed a put pilot commitment at ABC for "Boundaries," a one-hour comedy to be written by Jill Soloway (HR 10/4).

He has a couple of other projects percolating, too, but they may not go out soon.

"I want to realize the projects we've got in the best possible way, so I'm not going to add too many things to the plate," Abrams said.

Abrams is repped by WMA. Kurtzman and Orci are repped by CAA.

Fox scares up J.J. Abrams' 'Fringe'

Two-hour pilot budgeted at over $10 million

Nearly 15 years after "The X-Files" launched, Fox is looking to scare a new generation of viewers with "Fringe," a spooky skein from the minds of J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.

Net has made a series commitment to the Warner Bros.-Bad Robot production, which will start off with a two-hour pilot budgeted at more than $10 million. Abrams, Kurtzman and Orci -- the brain trust behind Par's new "Star Trek" feature -- wrote the project on spec and shopped it to nets this week.

Trio will exec produce "Fringe" along with Bryan Burk ("Lost"). A search has begun for a pilot helmer as well as a series showrunner.

Deal also marks Fox's acceptance of a new digital template hammered out by Warners and ABC last month (Daily Variety, Sept. 6). Pact gives Fox broad streaming rights to Warners shows in their first season and lets Warners start monetizing skeins via digital platforms by season two.

"Fringe" mixes elements of "The X-Files" and Paddy Chayefsky's "Altered States" with what Abrams calls "a slight 'Twilight Zone' vibe." It will focus on brilliant but possibly crazy research scientist Walter Bishop, his estranged son and a female FBI agent who brings them together.

Episodes will explore self-contained mysteries of the paranormal, as well as the relationships between the three leads.

"So much of the story is relatable people in extraordinary situations," Abrams said. "The show is definitely a nod to 'Altered States' and 'Scanners' and that whole Michael Crichton/Robin Cook world of medicine and science."

There'll also be an overriding mythology that will come into play from time to time, as well as a healthy dose of humor.

"It does the stuff my favorite TV shows and movies do, which is to combine genres that shouldn't fit together," Abrams said. "It's definitely meant to scare the hell out of you, but it's also meant to make you laugh... It pushes all the buttons of things we loved from our childhood."

Driving the show will be the Walter Bishop character, a larger-than-life figure who bears some resemblance to the titular character in Fox's "House." In the pilot, he's in a mental hospital.

"Imagine that your father is Frankenstein mixed with Albert Einstein," Orci said. "He's someone who has the mental ability to solve so many problems but is so different that communicating with them is almost impossible."

Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori said he's been circling "Fringe" for months, starting with a meeting he had with Abrams in February. Project hadn't taken shape yet, but Liguori knew he wanted to be in business with the hyphenate.

"I was really impressed by how much he felt his voice was a Fox voice," Liguori said. Exec then heard that "Fringe" was coming together on spec and, along with Fox Entertainment prexy Kevin Reilly, began keeping tabs on it.

"With the sensibility of those guys and the territory they were exploring, it felt like it had to end up at Fox," Reilly said. "It feels like it's a bull's-eye for us."

While Reilly and Liguori have already set up several major projects in recent weeks, Liguori said he thinks "Fringe" will particularly benefit from Reilly's hand during the production process.

"He can drain every bit of quality out of this and help create something that will be a standout," he said.

Abrams said he and his co-creators didn't want to go the usual development route and pitch an idea without a script.

"We wanted to write the script we wanted to see (on the air) and just put it out there, rather than pitching something that may or may not result in the show you want," he said.

Greenlight for "Fringe" means there are now three projects at three different nets centering on characters exploring freaky mysteries a la "The X-Files."

CBS has given a series order to the Warners- and Jerry Bruckheimer-produced "11th Hour," which is based on a Brit format (Daily Variety, Sept. 19). And ABC has ordered six episodes of the Zak Penn-produced "Section 8," which involves a team of investigators with mental abnormalities (Daily Variety, Sept. 27).

Reilly said he believes the Eye and Alphabet shows are a bit more science-oriented, while "Fringe" delves a bit more into sci-fi.

"May the best show win," he said.

"Fringe" marks the first series commitment for Abrams since he signed his mega-deal with Warners last year. It also comes in the wake of news earlier this week that Abrams had set up a drama pilot, dubbed "Boundaries," at ABC with scribe Jill Soloway (Daily Variety, Oct. 4).

Abrams has turned in a pilot for HBO but is still talking to the cabler about the fate of the project. Kurtzman and Orci, who worked with Abrams on "Alias," are now readying a sequel to their summer smash "Transformers."

Edited October 7, 200718 yr by Sylph

I don't need to see the pilot. I'm already sold on this based on who's behind the series.

Now....who would be a good showrunner......It'll probably be somebody from "Lost" or the JJ Abrams family. Drew Goddard maybe?

Drew the child prodigy... He lost steam in recent years. I don't like Kurtzman and Orci, they write horrible movies. And I don't know how they influenced Abrams's work. I'd have to wait and see, if the project materialises.