NBC planning television series based on The Wolfman and The Cleveland Torso Killer

NBC is looking to compliment their growing number of genre series from two very different sources. In addition to the already airing HANNIBAL, GRIMM, and DRACULA, the Peacock is planning to develop a series based on THE WOLFMAN as well as a limited series inspired by Eliot Ness and the Cleveland Torso Killer.

The Eliot Ness series will be titled NEMESIS and comes from producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, best known for directing last year’s Seth McFarlane hosted Oscars ceremony the the upcoming live staging of THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Based on the book of the same name, NEMESIS will bring to life a story that has been in development as a feature film for a long time, recently with Matt Damon attached.

It tells the true story of Ness in 1935, post-Untouchables, as Cleveland’s ZADAN_MERONX390newly appointed Director of Public Safety. Bodies have started turning up — each one decapitated and dissected with a doctor’s skill and a madman’s bent. The police are baffled and the population is terrorized over America’s first serial killer, the so-called “Torso Killer.” Though it’s not his turf, Ness is forced to take over the case, but the more energy he pours into the investigation, the more it takes over and threatens to destroy his life.

Eliot Ness is typically associated with THE UNTOUCHABLES and Al Capone, but the Torso Killer story is a very intriguing companion as it focuses on a case Ness was unable to solve. This would make for a very cool series, limited or otherwise. No actors are attached to the project yet.

For THE WOLFMAN, DRACULA series creator Daniel Knauf will develop a series inspired by the classic Universal monster that was recently remade by director Joe Johnston in 2010 starring Anthony Hopkins, Benicio Del Toro, and Emily Blunt. It is unknown if the new take will be moved to modern times or be a period piece like the DRACULA series, but this brief description was given.

THE WOLFMAN is described as a supernatural thriller that explores what it means to be a man and to be human. It centers on Lawrence Talbot, who is afflicted by an ancient curse and jacks into the powerful, primordial soul of the alpha-predator.”

The Benicio Del Toro film was a disappointment at the box office, but the success of the DRACULA series could pave the way for multiple horror series based on classic monsters. This also could set up crossovers with DRACULA that would feature the iconic monsters in each other’s show.

Neither show currently has a premiere date scheduled, but expect to see them as early as Fall 2014.