Alan Cumming Is Dr. Death For CBS Pilot From Zoo’s James Patterson
Alan Cumming has landed the lead in a pilot for CBS from Zoo’s James Patterson it has been announced.
Dr. Death is an adaptation of an upcoming novel from James Patterson & Howard Roughan, which centres on a former CIA operative (Cumming) who is pulled away from his new life as a professor and writer, back to his CIA past when the NYPD need his help catching a serial killer.
Cumming is well known to CBS audiences having played Eli Gold in The Good Wife, and is well known his film work having played Nightcrawler in X-Men 2, and Boris Grishenko in Goldeneye. He also appeared in The L Word, Web Therapy, hosted Urban Secrets for Sky Atlantic, and provided the voice for Gutsy Smurf in the Smurf movies.
James Patterson is the man responsible for writing the novel Zoo, on which the extremely silly but very watchable tv show of the same name is based. He also wrote the novels Kiss the Girls, and Along Came a Spider which were both turned into Hollywood movies.
“It’s great to imagine Alan in the role,” commented Patterson “There aren’t many stars who can convincingly play drama and comedy with effortless wit, not to mention a musical savant and crime-solving genius.”
Dr. Death has been picked up for pilot commitment with series penalty – i.e. it will cost CBS a financial penalty if it doesn’t go to series.
Zoo has recently been renewed for a 3rd season, and the novel of Dr. Death is due to be released on the 12th June, 2017.
