Five Takes New Warner Bros. Drama

LONDON, July 20: Five in the U.K. has secured the free-TV
and digital terrestrial rights to The Nine,
slated to launch on ABC this fall, from Warner Bros. International Television
Distribution.

Vanessa Brookman, Five’s controller of acquisitions,
described the show as “one of the most intriguing and absorbing pilots of this
year’s screenings.”

The Nine focuses on
nine strangers who form a bond after they are held hostage for 52 hours during
a botched bank robbery. The series was created by Hank Steinberg (Without
a Trace) and K.J. Steinberg (Judging
Amy, Beautiful People).

Five recently picked up Shark and Vanished from
Twentieth Century Fox. Other U.S. imports on the British network include Prison
Break, House, the CSI
and Law & Order franchises, The
Shield and Everybody Hates Chris.