Last update we gave you on A&E’s remake of the French zombie drama “The Returned” was to tell you the network had given the series a 10-episode order, a nice show of confidence in the show. Now that it’s moving forward in earnest, it has cast its first lead: Mark Pellegrino.
Pellegrino’s casting marks a reunion with “Returned” showrunner Carlton Cuse: Pellegrino played the mysterious Jacob on “Lost”, which Cuse executive-produced and co-wrote. “Supernatural” fans will recognize him as Lucifer, while he’s recently spent time on “The Tomorrow People” and “Being Human”.
Here’s the synopsis for the original show:
In an idyllic French mountain town, a seemingly random collection of people find themselves in a state of confusion as they attempt to return to their homes. What they do not yet know is that they have been dead for several years, and no one is expecting them back. As they struggle to reintegrate with their families and past lovers, buried secrets emerge and new mysteries develop as they grapple with a miraculous and sinister new reality. But it seems they are not the only ones to have returned from the dead. Their arrival coincides with a series of gruesome murders which bear a chilling resemblance to the work of a serial killer from the past.
Cuse wrote the first episode, and he and Raelle Tucker (True Blood) will write and executive produce the supernatural/suspense series, a co-production between A+E Studios and FremantleMedia North America, with three scripts already completed.