Exactly a week before Fox is slated to present its schedule to advertisers, the network has given a formal series pickup to one of its high-profile pilots, Gotham. The project, based on characters from the DC universe, had a series commitment and had been considered a lock for the spot on the 2014-15 schedule. An origin story of the great DC Comics supervillains and vigilantes, Gotham explores the early years of Commissioner James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) as an idealistic rookie detective in Gotham City and the rogues’ gallery of villains that made the city infamous. The pilot for the project, from Warner Bros TV, was written/executive produced by The Mentalist creator Bruno Heller and directed/exec produced by Danny Cannon. John Stephens recently was brought in and will serve as an executive producer on the series alongside Heller.
Co-starring alongside McKenzie are Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney, David Mazouz as young Bruce Wayne, Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth and Zabryna Guevara as Captain Essen.
Fox brass appear happy with their drama development with all three pilots likely to go to series. That includes hip-hop drama Empire and hospital coming-of-age drama Red Band Society looking good to join Gotham on the schedule.
