Push Feature Film Set for TV Treatment

LOS ANGELES/TORONTO: Summit Entertainment’s 2009 theatrical release Push is being developed into a TV series in a deal with E1 Entertainment, with the pilot to be penned by X-Men and Watchmen screenwriter David Hayter.

Summit Entertainment—the studio behind the Twilight films—and E1 Entertainment will jointly develop and produce the series, about people with paranormal powers who band together to take down a corrupt government agency. E1 already has a relationship with Summit, distributing its films in the U.K. and Canada. 

The pilot will be written by Hayter, whose credits include Watchmen, The Scorpion King, X2 and X-Men. E1 and Dark Hero Studios, co-owned by Hayter and producing partner Benedict Carver, will jointly produce the series based on the screenplay created by David Bourla for Summit Entertainment. Hayter and Carver will be executive producers, along with E1’s Noreen Halpern and John Morayniss. Discussions with U.S. broadcasters have begun. Summit and E1 will jointly arrange for the U.S. television license. E1 is set to handle the TV sales in Canada as well as home entertainment and broadcasting rights in Canada, the U.K. and Benelux. Summit will distribute home entertainment in the U.S. Both Summit and E1 will split foreign sales by each handling separate territories as part of their stated multi-territory content distribution strategy.

“The concept behind the Push feature film offers a broad and rich canvas on which to extend the story line and characters introduced in the feature film,” said Summit’s co-chairmen, Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger. “The project is also the perfect vehicle to initiate Summit’s plans of producing programming for the global television marketplace. The opportunity to do this with our trusted partners at E1 re-enforces that this is the right opportunity to grow Summit’s platform.”

Patrice Theroux, E1’s president of filmed entertainment, added: "It’s a pleasure to witness the next step forward of our theatrical relationship with Summit take place with the television series Push. The strengths that exist between E1, Summit and Dark Hero are going to result in a phenomenal TV series, which will resonate on a worldwide basis.”

John Morayniss, the CEO of E1 Television, added: “This is one of those ‘perfect fit’ moments: David Hayter’s work on Watchmen gives him super-hero status on the sci-fi front, and instantly ensures that Push gets the right kind of attention.”