Almost four years after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the Malaysian government today announced the launch of a “final effort” to find the wreckage of the doomed aircraft and solve the mystery of what happened to it. What if the plane and its passengers suddenly reappeared?
NBC has given a pilot order to Manifest, a high-concept mystery thriller that explores such a hypothetical scenario. The drama, one of the first sales of the 2017 pitch season with a put pilot commitment, hails from The Mysteries of Laura creator Jeff Rake and producer Robert Zemeckis. Warner Bros. TV, where both Zemeckis and Rake have overall deals, is the studio.
In Manifest, written/executive produced by Rake, a plane disappears from radar and returns five years later after being untraceable and presumed lost at sea. No time has passed for those on the plane, but for their loved ones at home, a long five years have gone by. The series follows their personal lives as well as the larger mystery and purpose that is their destiny.
Zemeckis executive produces via his Compari Entertainment banner alongside the company’s Jack Rapke. Compari’s Jackie Levine serves as co-executive producer.
Under his overall WBTV deal, Zemeckis and his company also have a multi-camera, live-action reboot of The Jetsons in contention at ABC with put pilot commitment.
Manifest marks NBC’s sixth drama pilot this season. It joins character-driven investigative thriller The Enemy Within, procedural In Between Lives; the serialized apartment building ensemble The Village, from writer Mike Daniels; an untitled Bellevue hospital drama from David Schulner and Peter Horton and a Bad Boys offshoot starring Gabrielle Union.
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