As his hit ABC series, Lost, rolls on for at least two more seasons and his untitled giant CG monster movie gets set to attack theaters on January 18, 2008, J.J. Abrams has inked a sweet TV deal with the FOX Network. The trades are reporting that the broadcaster won an intense bidding war and picked up Fringe, a sci-fi spec script the wunderkind wrote with Transformers Scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. FOX has committed to making it a big-budget series, reportedly earmarking approximately $10 million for the production of a two-hour pilot.
Sounding like cross between The X-Files and Silence of the Lambs, Fringe will reportedly revolve around female FBI agent who works to stem the spread of powerful and unexplained phenomena with the help of an institutionalized scientist who may be responsible for what’s happening.
Abrams’ Bad Robot is producing the series with Warner Bros. Television. The deal with FOX includes an episode license fee of about to $2 million and a digital distribution deal much like the one that allows Lost fans to watch the series on ABC.com and portable media players.
Both Kurtzman and Orci worked as writers on Abrams’ Alias TV series before following him to the big screen with Mission: Impossible III. They are also scripting Abrams’ 2008 Star Trek feature film reboot and are re-teaming with Transformers director Michael Bay on the sci-fi thriller 2012: The War for Souls.
