Happy Friday the 13th! Just in time for the unlucky day is a look at 1313 Mockingbird Lane for Bryan Fuller’s upcoming dramedy… Mockingbird Lane. Entertainment Weekly debuted the concept art as seen above on their website in an interview with the show’s creator. Bryan talked about what to expect with this re-invention of The Munsters, including what characters may make an appearance and some interesting information on the show’s costumes. Check out an excerpt below, then head to the source for more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you first become involved with this project?
BRYAN FULLER: It started when I was at the Tim Burton exhibit in New York and he had all these monster family portraits. And I thought there should be a show about a family of monsters. But any show about a family of monsters is going to be calling back to the original show about a family of monsters. We are reinventing The Munsters because if we didn’t everybody would just say, “You’re ripping off The Munsters!” So why not just make it official?

What excited you about the idea?
I always loved the original and was much more a Munsters child than an Addams Family child. The Munsters were the more relatable family. The Addams family looked normal but they acted weird and were sort of mal-socialized in a way. The Munsters were a more functional, sane family unit, they just looked different. [The shows] were almost inverses of the same idea. Obviously, Addams came first, then The Munsters took advantage of the Universal monsters and what they brought to the table. What excited me was to tell this story — and it’s going to sound strange in regards to this property — in a grounded, more realistic way.

And that tonal focus is why you changed the title?
The script is such a dramatic departure from the tone and style of the original show. If we continued to call the show The Munsters, people are just going to to think we’re doing The Munsters. We’re doing a reinvention and re-imagination of this property. I love the Universal monsters. I love The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, The Wolfman, Phantom of the Opera, The Mummy. There’s so many great characters we can run through this metaphor of family storytelling that it just felt it was ripe to do as a one-hour dramedy. Having all those elements to play with, the toy box is really, really full.

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Deadline reports that David Slade has been tapped to direct the pilot episode of “Hannibal,” the first episode in a line of thirteen. Although known for working on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, this will be the second time Slade will work for an NBC pilot episode (he was recently behind the cameras on this past season’s freshman drama, “Awake”).

As an aside, according to Film Music Reporter, Jim Dooley – composer of “Pushing Daisies” – will reunite with Bryan Fuller to create the music for “Hannibal.” Dooley himself made the announcement at a WonderCon panel earlier in the month.

According to Deadline, British actress Charity Wakefield has been cast as Marilyn Munster in the upcoming “Mockingbird Lane.” This, in addition to Eddie Izzard’s casting as Grandpa. The site also reports the following summary of the character for this darker reboot of “The Munsters”:

Marilyn [is] Lily’s beautiful niece and the only “normal” Munster (which makes her rather abnormal). Saved from being devoured by her own mother as an infant, she lives with the Munsters but has not inherited any of their special attributes. A college student who believes in good manners and congeniality toward the new neighbors, she regularly clashes with Grandpa, but she gets along well with Aunt Lily and Uncle Herman, as well as with her young cousin Eddie.

Hugh Dancy – star of movies such as Hysteria and Adam – is the first actor to be cast in Bryan Fuller’s “Hannibal.” Dancy will be playing FBI agent Will Graham, so it seems those anticipating the release of this show will see a lot of him in coming months. Remember: NBC already gave “Hannibal” a full-series order just last month, for a total of thirteen episodes. The Hollywood Reporter also has this to say about the upcoming series:

“Hannibal,” from Gaumont International Television, is described as an hourlong contemporary thriller and revolves around FBI agent Will Graham and his mentor, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who are reintroduced as the beginning of their budding relationship.

Bryan Fuller will write and executive produce the series with Martha DeLaurentiis also serving as executive producer.

In some amazing casting news, Eddie Izzard has been cast as the iconic Grandpa in Bryan Fuller’s upcoming remake of “The Munsters”! According to The Hollywood Reporter, he will also serve as producer on the pilot episode, along with Fuller and Bryan Singer executive producing. Eddie is the first character to be cast in “Mockingbird Lane,” and the newly envisioned Grandpa is described as follows:

In the reboot, Grandpa is described as a powerful vampire with the quick wit that [Al] Lewis initially injected into the character. He’s the head of the mysterious family who continues to have Herman under his thumb.

Bryan Fuller will finally be brought back to the small screen as NBC has ordered a full season of “Hannibal,” the re-imagined television series based on Thomas Harris’s cannibal serial killer. A total of thirteen episodes will air in the fall; casting has yet to be announced. According to EW, the logline for the show is as follows:

“One-hour contemporary thriller series featuring the classic characters from Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon – FBI agent Will Graham and his mentor Dr. Hannibal Lecter – who are re-introduced at the beginning of their budding relationship.”

On a semi-related note that was otherwise never reported on BFO: Bryan’s “Mockingbird Lane” is experiencing a delay due to casting complications. The pilot now aims to be shot in June.

As if to further drive home the point that its “imaginative reinvention” of “The Munsters” will bear little resemblance to the classic ’60s version, NBC is giving the reboot a new moniker.

Sources confirm to TVLine exclusively that the title of the pilot — which is being stewarded by “Pushing Daisies” creator Bryan Fuller and X-Men auteur Bryan Singer — has been changed from “The Munsters” to “Mockingbird Lane.”

The new handle is, of course, a nod to the family’s iconic Victorian abode, which is situated at 1313 Mockingbird Lane.

SOURCE

This is exciting news, as I’m a huge fan of RDJ: Warner Brothers is courting Robert Downey, Jr. for a live-action production of the Carlo Collodi classic, Pinocchio. Tim Burton is currently attached as the director and wants to work with Robert, but it’s a matter of fitting it into his busy schedule. Bryan Fuller wrote the script for WB, with previous “Pushing Daisies” collaborator Dan Jinks on board as the producer.

In the version being developed at Warner Bros., Geppetto embarks on a quest to reunite with his missing marionette. The well-regarded script is by “Pushing Daisies” creator Bryan Fuller. Dan Jinks (American Beauty) is producing.

Neither Burton nor Downey has a deal with Warners, but sources say Burton is keen to direct the film and has begun talks with the studio, so it’s just a question of whether Pinocchio will be his next movie. The Alice in Wonderland director also is eyeing an adaptation of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children at Fox, among other projects. Warners wants to move quickly with Pinocchio, so if Burton chooses to make another movie first, the studio might move on to other directors.

According to two well-placed sources, Downey has expressed serious interest in the project (and in working with Burton), but his busy schedule must still be worked out. Warner Bros. is hoping that Burton and Downey commit soon so the project can be fast-tracked.

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Bloody Disgusting received a tip on the upcoming reboot of “The Munsters,” including some character descriptions and more information on the plot. It was also mentioned that filming will begin in February, so we can probably expect some casting (at least for the initial pilot) very soon. I thought it was better to just repost what their insider said rather than rewording, so check out more details on the show below:

We’re exclusively told by insiders that this will NOT be a remake of the original 1964 series that starred Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis and Yvonne De Carlo as a family of friendly monsters have misadventures never quite realizing why people react to them so strangely.

The modern take will instead be strange hybrid of the popular comedy “Modern Family” and HBO’s “True Blood”. While the series will be dark there will be a lot of heart and comedic elements. While I’m a huge fan of Bryan Fuller’s “Dead Like Me”, his “Pushing Daisies” never grabbed my attention, and frankly neither were any good at character development. The follow, though, gives me some series hope. There are a lot of interesting people moving into 1313 Mockingbird Lane…

The pilot episode, which is to be directed by Bryan Singer – who also was behind the camera for the “House” pilot, Superman Returns and X-Men – will focus on 10-year-old Eddie Munster who is unaware that he’s a werewolf, and that his family is composed of terrifying creatures. The madness begins when a baby bear attacks a scouting trip, only it turns out that this “bear” is actually Eddie transformed into a werewolf. Eddie is unaware of his metamorphosis and it forces the family to move in order to protect the family secret. The coming of age story gets weirder as he fights against his family when he learns of a shocker: they’re a family of flesh-eaters!

A few other random character notes: Lily Munster has an eating disorder and eats suicide victims. Grandpa Munster is a 600-year-old shapeshifter, and Marilyn Munster was adopted when her mother tried to eat her as a baby.

Bryan Singer – director of X-Men, Valkyrie, and the critically acclaimed The Usual Suspects – has been tapped to direct and co-produce Bryan Fuller’s reboot of the cult classic, “The Munsters.” The deal is still being finalized, but Deadline is reporting that Singer has been interested with the project even before it was green lit.

Singer has directed previous television pilots in the past, including Football Wives and the very popular House. He was also an executive producer on ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money.