‘Kung Fu’ Female-Led Reboot From Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero & Berlanti Prods. In Works At The CW

The CW has put in development Kung Fu, a reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series. The hourlong project hails from the Blindspot team of writer-executive producer Christina M. Kim, creator-executive producer Martin Gero, executive producers Greg Berlanti & Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros. TV, where Kim, Gero and Berlanti Prods. are under deals.

Written by Kim, inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, in the reimagined Kung Fu, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice…all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

Kim and Gero executive produce via Gero’s Quinn’s House Production Company, which produces in association with Berlanti Prods. and Warner Bros. TV. Berlanti and Schechter executive produce for Berlanti Prods.

Two incarnations of the project with different writers — both featuring a female lead — were in development at Fox the last two seasons from Berlanti Prods and Warner Bros. TV with a put pilot commitment. Neither went to pilot.

Berlanti Prods. and WBTV have a successful track record moving to CW projects that had been originally developed at Fox. The CW hit Riverdale and DC drama Black Lightning both originated as Fox development before migrating to the CW.

Kim has been with Blindspot since the first season, starting as a co-executive producer and rising to executive producer in Season 4. Her other credits include consulting producer on Hawaii Five-O and co-executive producer on NCIS: Los Angeles. She began her TV career as a story editor on Lost.

Gero also is executive producing The Service, a one-hour drama from writer Drew Lindo (The 100, Reign), via his Quinn’s House and WBTV, which has received a script commitment with penalty at Fox.

Gero, who also created The L.A. Complex and has been working on a reboot for the CW, did stints on several Stargate series: Stargate Atlantis — on which he rose to showrunner — Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Universe. At WBTV, in addition to creating, executive producing and showrunning Blindspot — which is heading into a fifth season on NBC — Gero also executive produced the ABC series Deception.