Sofia’s Second Family: Ben Silverman and Sofia Vergara (Modern Family) will executive produce a single-camera comedy, the first broadcast scripted project for Silverman’s new company Electus. The show, which ABC is close to acquiring, is based on the Spanish series Aquí no hay quien viva (loosely translated as I Hate This Place). The series is described as “a multi-cultural and multi-generational comedy in the tone of Modern Family and set in an apartment building.” Well, it took a year, but it looks like the Modern Family–inspired shows are finally a-comin’. [Deadline]
Two for Church: Thomas Haden Church has landed two roles in upcoming high-profile projects. He will play Emile Hirsch’s father in the dark comedy Killer Joe, the Tracy Letts adaptation (also starring Matthew McConaughey) about a “detective who doubles as a hired killer.” Church will also join the cast of Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo, which stars Matt Damon. [Variety]
Back to the Alphabet: Damon Wayans is developing a comedy for ABC, the home of My Wife and Kids, the show on which he starred for five years. The untitled project will see Wayans as an actor who plays the role of “America’s favorite dad” on a sitcom, but who has a less-than-idyllic family life at home. [Variety]
Sweetness: Doug Sweetland — who directed the Oscar-nominated Pixar short Presto, the magician-and-rabbit short that played before WALL-E — will be making the leap to feature films. He’ll be directing Sony Pictures Animation’s The Familiars, the story of three wizard apprentices who, after they are captured by an evil queen, must rely on their animal friends, or “familiars,” to escape. [Heat Vision/HR]
Split Decision: Fox has picked up a project called Splitting Adams from writer David Hubbard about a woman who lives parallel lives. The series is a legal procedural about a young prosecutor who finds herself “caught between two realities,” one in which she is a trial lawyer … and one in which she is on trial. [Live Feed/HR]
