Following
news earlier today that the network had put into development a period crime drama series based on real-life black detective Samuel Marlowe, the network has also now picked up a new project from John Singleton titled “Straight Outta Heaven,” an hour-long drama which is described as a faith-based, hip-hop “‘Touched by an Angel’-meets-‘Ghost’ with an urban twist.”
The guardian angel drama, which will be written and executive produced by Singleton and Dallas Jackson, will be produced by Warner Bros. TV studio.
“John and I have similar genre taste and recognized a need on network television for the underserved urban youth audience and faith-based audience,” Jackson said. “The CW is the perfect home for this new kind of hero we’ve created who’s superpower is faith.”
This is the 3rd TV project Singleton has on his slate, including the previously announced FX crack epidemic drama “Snowfall,” and the BET cop series “Rebel.”
In case you haven’t been paying attention, there’s money to be made with so-called faith-based projects (for film and TV), as more and more stars take on material that targets that specific demographic. With the box office success of recent films like “Heaven Is for Real,” and TV ratings hits like “The Bible Series,” “Son of God,” and “AD,” it’s probably a very good time for content creators with faith-based projects primed for the big or small screen. Hence, more and more similar releases should be expected.
The CW, which as I noted in the
“Marlowe” post earlier today, appears to be making a necessary diversity push, as it ranks (per a new study) as one of the worst of the Big 5 TV networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW) when it comes to inclusiveness on the screen.
Now about that “Straight Outta Heaven” title…
Deadline was first to report the new pickup by The CW.
