Ryan Phillippe's 'Shooter' Receives Series Pickup from USA Network

Ryan Phillippe

USA Network has announced a series pick-up for Shooter, a drama based on the best-selling Bob Lee Swagger novel by Stephen Hunter, "Point of Impact," and the 2007 Paramount film starring Mark Wahlberg. The co-production with Paramount Television and Universal Cable Productions comes from executive producers Wahlberg of Closest to the Hole Productions; Stephen Levinson of Leverage Entertainment; and Lorenzo di Bonaventura. John Hlavin wrote the pilot and will also executive produce. Simon Cellan Jones directed the pilot.

Ryan Phillippe (One Life to Live, Secrets and Lies) is a producer on the project and will star as Bob Lee Swagger, an expert marksman living in exile who is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president. Omar Epps (House) plays Isaac Johnson, an ex-Marine and former commanding officer of Swagger. Now a Secret Service Agent, he solicits Swagger's expertise for a clandestine operation that has disastrous results.

"Shooter is an uncompromising exploration of the definition and evolution of a hero," said Jackie de Crinis, Executive Vice President, Original Programming, USA Network. "The conspiracy and drama that unfolded throughout the first hour had us completely immersed, and we look forward to more."

"USA is the perfect home for Shooter," said Amy Powell, President, Paramount Television. "Stephen Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger is a heroic, iconic character and there is so much more of his story to explore in series. This incredible group of producers and actors bring our vision to the next level; we couldn't be more thrilled to work with Mark, Ryan, Stephen, John, and Universal Cable Productions to take audiences on an exciting journey."

USA Picks up Drama Pilot 'Shooter' Starring Ryan Phillippe

Ryan Phillippe

USA Network has announced a pilot pick-up for the hour-long scripted drama Shooter and has locked in Ryan Phillippe (Secrets and Lies, One Life to Live) to star.

Shooter is based on the best-selling Bob Lee Swagger novel by Stephen Hunter, "Point of Impact," and the 2007 Paramount film starring Mark Wahlberg.

The co-production with Paramount Television and Universal Cable Productions comes from executive producers Wahlberg of Closest to the Hole Productions; Stephen Levinson of Leverage Entertainment; and Lorenzo di Bonaventura. John Hlavin (The Shield) wrote the pilot and will also executive produce. Simon Cellan Jones is set to direct the pilot.

Phillippe is a producer on the project and will star as Bob Lee Swagger, an off-the-grid former Marine sniper who is coaxed into action to thwart the killing of the President. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he must call upon all the skills he acquired as a decorated Marine sharpshooter to avoid capture while hunting down and exposing the traitors who set him up.

'Secrets and Lies' Premieres March 1, Stars Ryan Phillippe and Juliette Lewis

ABC's 10-episode murder mystery Secrets and Lies, starring Ryan Phillippe and Juliette Lewis, premieres Sunday, March 1 with back-to-back episodes starting at a special time 9 p.m. ET/PT. The show's regular time slot will be Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

In Secrets and Lies, Ben Crawford (Phillippe) is about to go from Good Samaritan to murder suspect after he discovers the body of his neighbor's young son, Tom Murphy, in the woods. Even as Detective Andrea Cornell (Lewis) digs for the truth in her investigation and pegs Ben as a "Person Of Interest," the case unfolds from Ben's perspective -- whether he is guilty or not. In trying to clear his name, it is Ben who peels back the layers of these suburbanites' lives in their quiet cul de sac, revealing their dirty little deceptions and all-too-crowded closets overflowing with skeletons. No one is above suspicion. Ben's family's life, already privately in disarray, is turned upside down as he sets out on a complicated journey to prove his innocence.

NEWS ROUNDUP: Copycat Killer Studied UK Soaps, Jessica Tuck To GRIMM, Ryan Phillippe Pilot

CORONATION STREET copycat killer studied soap scene before murdering woman
In a chilling imitation of CORRIE villain John Stape who killed Charlotte Hoyle with a hammer, a teenager beat his victim on her head, neck and back then doused her body in petrol and set fire to her house.

Shaun Smith, prosecuting, told Nottingham crown court: “You will hear about a young man who immersed himself in a fantasy world; fantasy words he wrote, television drama, films he accessed by the internet. He did that to such an extent that boundaries between real life and fiction became very, very tragically blurred.”

Police found the boy’s computer was packed with violent scenes from soaps including HOLLYOAKS and EMMERDALE and also contained clips from the notorious torture film Saw and controversial TV shows such as TRIAL AND RETRIBUTION.

FLASHBACK: 'One Life to Live' Hits Quarter Center; Still The Soap With A Social Conscience (1993)

Ryan Phillippe, Roy Thinnes and Erika Slezak

One Life, 25 Years ABC SERIAL HITS A QUARTER CENTURY STILL THE SOAP WITH A SOCIAL CONSCIENCE

By Libby Slate
Los Angeles Times
July 11, 1993

"I had a recurring nightmare when I took over the show," says Linda Gottleib, executive producer of daytime's One Life to Live for the last two years. "I would turn on the set and there was the opening logo and theme music-and then a blank screen, nothing but static."