Deadline.com is trying to clear up dark rumblings about Steven Spielbergs’ TERRA NOVA time-travel/dinosaur series.
Rene Echevarria (DEEP SPACE NINE, THE 4400), has apparently been enlisted to produce the two-hour pilot, working with fellow STAR TREK vet Brannon Braga, who is set to be the 20th Century Fox /Dreamworks TV series’ “showrunner”.
Back in September Braga’s co-excutive producer David Fury left the series, and last Friday the rest of the writing staff was “released”, as the show is going on a four month hiatus while the pilot/TV movie is filmed in Austrailia. It’s expected to take two months to shoot, another two for post production & FX, and cost in the area of $14 Million. That would be a record, surpassing LOST’s $12 Million.
Originally, Fox was planning to go directly from the pilot into a 13 episode production run, but it’s been decided to air the pilot in May 2011, and not premiere the series until the Fall.
If TERRA NOVA ultimately does not go into production as a series, certain costs expected to be armortized over the first season might bring the actual cash outlay to around $20 Million.
The site reports extensive rewrites on the pilot, and the possiblities of cost overruns. See the link above for further details.