Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

The Bates Motel (TV)

9/14/12 - Freddie Highmore has been tapped to co-star as a young Norman Bates in the A&E’s Psycho prequel Bates Motel.  Highmore will play the character made famous by Anthony Perkins.  Vera Farmiga will play his mother Norma.  Bates Motel will explore Norman's relationship with his mother, Norma and offer a look at his backstory that helped forge the infamous serial killer. Source: The Hollywood Reporter

8/27/12 - Vera Farmiga is joining A&E's Bates Motel as Norma Louise Bates, a complicated, passionate and compelling woman who is smart, multidimensional and always capable of surprising people.  Source: The Hollywood Reporter

7/2/12 - A&E has ordered the Psycho prequel, Bates Motel, straight to series, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  From Lost's Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights' Kerry Ehrin, the series is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic Psycho and is described as a contemporary exploration of Norman Bates' formative years. It will explore his relationship with his mother, Norma, and offer a look at the backstory that helped forge the infamous serial killer.  The series is scheduled for a 2013 premiere on A&E. Cuse and Ehrin will executive produce the Universal Television and Carlton Cuse Productions effort. Anthony Cipriano penned the pilot script.

3/9/12 - Carlton Cuse is boarding A&E’s The Bates Motel, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  A&E is developing the series, being produced by Mark Wolper and Roy Lee, as a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.  Bates Motel aims to tell the story of a young Bates and how his life with his deranged mother and her lover unhinged his mind, eventually turning him into a serial killer.  Cuse will executive produce and oversee the writing and production what is being envisioned initially as a six-episode “event" that would lead to additional seasons.  Kerry Ehrin is joining as a writer.

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