David Tennant To Lead US Broadchurch Remake

It took the UK by storm this year so unsurprisingly the show has gone stateside, albeit quietly. BROADCHURCH was aired on BBC America but it has now been announced that it be remade for audiences across the pond. Fox will be developing the remake, which will interestingly also star David Tennant (DOCTOR WHO), who headlined in the original British version playing an experienced detective who helps to solve the murder of a young boy in a small village. Tennant will play an American detective who is the lead male investigator on the case of a shocking murder that puts a small town under scrutiny.

The pilot will be produced by Dan Futterman (CAPOTE) and Anya Epstein (IN TREATMENT), and Chris Chibnall will pen the script, but we’ve got no word yet as to whether Olivia Colman will return to co-star with Tennant. Speaking about the remake, Chibnall said:

‘Fox is giving me the opportunity to make something that is hopefully as good if not better than the British version… I’m very, very fascinated to see this story in a different landscape with an acting ensemble that’s just as strong but taken from really great American actors. The DNA of the original is absolutely intact and filtered through a new prism, so it should still feel just as vibrant, and interesting, and strange, and unique, and beautiful, but just in a different setting — and then it’s exploring the dramatic opportunities that that offers up. We’re not gonna do the terrible version. We’re gonna do a great version.’

Filming begins in January and will be aired stateside for the 2014-15 season. Remaking shows for American audiences seems to be the ‘in’ thing now, with American remakes of the Danish/Swedish show THE BRIDGE and the Danish crime drama THE KILLING having already been aired and received positively by critics and audiences. Will an American BROADCHURCK work if it just includes the same stars with slightly different accents, or is that a bit of a cop out? Let us know!

Source: Collider