NBC is developing a drama series with the team behind the “Maze Runner” film franchise, Variety has learned.
Wes Ball (pictured above), who has directed all three “Maze Runner” films, and his producing partner Joe Hartwick Jr. will serve as executive producers on “Mosaic,” described as being set in a near-future metropolis and follows the interconnected lives of a diverse set of characters struggling to navigate their relationships in the face of emerging technologies.
Ball will also direct in addition to executive producing. Christine Lavaf, who previously worked on “Fringe,” “Falling Skies,” and was selected to write the upcoming “Twilight Zone” film adaptation, will write and executive produce. Universal Television will produce along with Ball and Hartwick’s Oddball Entertainment and Chernin Entertainment.
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Ball is repped by APA, Gotham Group, and Stone Genow Smelkinson Binder & Christopher. Lavaf is repped by APA and Nelson Davis, LLP.
The project marks Ball’s first foray into television, with his production banner currently under a production deal with 20th Century Fox. With the third “Maze Runner” film currently in post-production, he also has several feature projects in development at Fox, including “Fall of Gods,” “Ruin,” and “In Search of Humans.”
“Mosaic” also falls under Chernin Entertainment’s overall television deal with NBC Entertainment and Universal Television. The company has produced a string of hit films in recent years, including the reboots of the “Planet of the Apes” franchise, the Oscar-nominated drama “Hidden Figures,” and action comedies “The Heat” and “Spy.”
As Variety reported exclusively in July, NBC is also developing a drama series about a black female Baltimore mayor that boasts Penny Johnson Jerald and Allison Abner among its executive producers.
Jerald will star in the upcoming Fox sci-fi series “The Orville” from Seth MacFarlane, set to debut in September, while Abner has written for shows like “The West Wing,” “Without a Trace,” “NCIS,” and “Narcos.”
