Remember a few years back when Brokeback Mountain was chosen by basically everyone to win the Academy Award for Best Picture…only to have the virtually unknown film Crash step in and…well…crash the party?

Starz has stepped in and ordered up a 13-episode series based on the award-winning film. What’s really amazing about this is the fact that essentially all of the film’s behind-the-scenes talent will be on board. Director, co-writer and producer Paul Haggis, co-writer and producer Bobby Moresco, producer Bob Yari, producer Don Cheadle, producer Mark R. Harris and executive producer Tom Nunan are all back on board to bring this show to air. Due to the star-studded cast in the film, it’s likely the show will see a major recast, though.

Crash, the film, dealt with race relations in Los Angeles. If, like me, you feel like that topic could get a bit strained over an entire season of a show, producer Don Cheadle has addressed that very issue. “This series will present an opportunity to delve into many subjects, not just race relations in LA. I don’t think you can do 13 episodes on that subject and keep people interested. The challenge will be to craft the series characters in such a way as to get beneath the skin that supposedly differentiates them and create entertaining story lines that show the hurdles and obstacles we all struggle to overcome day to day.”

And lastly, Crash will be developed by Lionsgate, which means, as we reported yesterday, that the writers will be able to get to writing immediately, vastly speeding up the development process, I’m sure.

(Source: Zap2It)