Amazon unveils Edge, newsroom pilots

Amazon Studios has revealed its latest line-up of pilots, including a Western from Shane Black and a newsroom-set drama starring Jim Belushi.

Jim Belushi stars in Good Girls Revolt

Edge is a Western based on George Gilman’s novel of the same name and is set in 1868. It was developed by Iron Man 3 scribe Black and Fred Dekker and explores the life of an army officer who becomes a cowboy and doles out his own form of justice.

Good Girls Revolt, a coproduction with TriStar Television, is set in 1969 and follows a group of female researchers working in a newsroom as they attempt get fairer working conditions. Belushi stars alongside Parenthood’s Joy Bryant. The show was created and written by Dana Calvo (Made in Jersey).

The pilots will all be shot in 4K and will be available later this quarter, with the streamer then choosing which projects to move ahead with – a strategy it first tried in 2013.

Meanwhile, Highston, about a 19-year-old man who has numerous invisible friends, is being produced by UK comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, with Chris Parnell and Mary Lynn Rajskub starring. The pilot has been greenlit alongside Mississippi, coproduced with FX Productions and loosely based on the life of US comedian Tig Notaro.

Patriot is a political thriller written by Steven Conrad, who also directs, and explores the life of an intelligence officer who goes undercover to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.

Finally, Z is directed by Tim Blake Nelson and stars Christina Ricci. It explores the life of flamboyant flapper and 1920s icon Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald when she meets her future husband, the author F Scott Fitzgerald.

Amazon’s originals, which are available on its streaming service in the US, UK, Germany and Austria, have included Hand of God and Bosch, while dramedy Transparent recently won five Emmys.

Amazon recently recruited Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May to make an original motoring series for its Prime service in a deal founder and CEO Jeff Bezos described as “very, very, very expensive.”