National Geographic Channel has given a straight-to-series order to Genius, a scripted series "telling the stories of the world's most brilliant innovators," Deadline reported, adding that the project "hails from Imagine TV, Fox 21 TV Studios, OddLot Entertainment and EUE/Sokolow." Ron Howard will direct the initial episode of Genius, whose first season focuses on Albert Einstein, based on Walter Isaacson's biography Einstein: His Life and Universe.
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The Weinstein Company "is behind an adaptation of Omerta," based on Mario Puzo's final novel, with Sylvester Stallone playing the lead role of mob boss Raymonde Aprile, Deadline reported. Antoine Fuqua (The Magnificent Seven) is directing from a pilot script and a bible "already in place by Justin Herber and Adam Hoff, and a writers room is quickly being assembled."
