Below The Beltway

From The Hollywood Reporter comes news of network television’s latest foray into sci-fi:

Sci Fi Channel has greenlighted “Revolution,” a two-hour futuristic action-drama pilot from writers Ed Redlich and John Bellucci, with Simon West in negotiations to direct.

Redlich describes the project, from CBS Paramount Network Television, as “re-envisioning the American Revolution 200 years in the future.”

“Revolution” is set in New America, a distant colony on an Earth-like planet struggling for its independence from an increasingly hostile homeland, the United State.

“It centers on two multigenerational families related by marriage — a loyalist family and a family that is leaning toward rebellion — and how the impending revolution impacts their lives,” said Redlich, a veteran showrunner.

(…)

The pilot is slated to begin production in January. If it is picked up to series, Sci Fi is eyeing a summer debut, said Mark Stern, the network’s executive vp original programming.

“This is a very relatable family drama filled with issues that we identify with: freedom and the rights of the individual versus the rights of the state. All of those things are very much in the world we live in now,” he said. “Also, it’s just a really wonderfully written script that combines sci-fi elements with strong, emotional character drama, similar to (Sci Fi’s) ‘Battlestar Galactica.’ “

As with many things science fiction, this will either by really good, or really crappy.