Three Fox TV pilots to film in Chicago this spring

Fox TV is back in Chicago for another pilot season.  The network has ordered three exciting one-hour pilots to be produced here from March through April – one more than the network filmed here in 2015.

One of the pilots is a dramatic thriller; one is an offbeat police and the third is a medical procedural, all with twists. 

All three are being produced under the 20th Century Fox Television umbrella and could spend an estimated $16.5 million here on production and employ a total of 450 crew members.

“We’ve been preparing for this tsunami for months, interviewing and training people to do the shows with great crews,” says Local 476 president Brad Matthys, “and it’s paying off.”  “ 

THE EXORCIST” is described as a propulsive, serialized psychological thriller, following two very different men tackling one family’s case of horrifying demonic possession, and confronting the face of true evil.

It’s called a modern reinvention inspired by William Blatty’s 1971 novel, which inspired the 1973 iconic horror film of the same name that, incidentally, was directed by Chicago native William Friedkin.

A.P.B” revolves around a tech billionaire who purchases a troubled police precinct in the wake of a loved one’s murder, and asks the question: Can this eccentric and enigmatic figure’s cutting-edge approach fix the broken ways of these blue blooded veterans? Inspired by the New York Times riveting story, “Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans?

 Writer and EP is David Slack (“Person of Interest), Len Wiseman (“Sleepy Hollow”) will direct.

ZOOBIQUITY,” a drama also based on a best-seller, follows the unlikely pairing of a successful, driven cardiologist as she risks career suicide by teaming with a socially challenged veterinarian who relates better to animals than people. 

They try to put aside their competitive natures to cure the incurable using a unique blend of cross-species medicine that’s never been tried before.

Writer/executive producers are Jon Collier and Stephen Nathan (“Bones”). 

Should Fox TV greenlight these pilots for a slot on the primetime schedule, and should these series be produced in Chicago, the city would be bustling with eight network TV series.  The three new Fox shows would join “Empire” and NBC Universal is planning a fourth in the Dick Wolf “Chicago” franchise.  Stay tuned!