While we won't know if ABC's new drama Red Widow is a success until the series premieres next year, the network may be taking another chance on an adaptation of a Dutch TV series. Put into development for ABC is a U.S. pilot adaptation of Overspel, which will be written by David Zabel (ER).
According to Deadline, former ER showrunner David Zabel is set to write and executive produce Betrayal, a pilot based on the 2011 Dutch series Overspel. The story follows "an unhappily married woman who begins a torrid affair with the lawyer for a powerful family." The man she's having an affair with turns out to be the attorney for a murder suspect, and the woman's husband just so happens to be the prosecutor on the case. "The affair and the case begin a spiraling series of betrayals with cataclysmic results for everyone involved."
Betrayal will also be executive produced by Rob Golenberg and Alon Aranya, who are also behind Red Widow, an upcoming ABC series written by Melissa Rosenberg, which stars Radha Mitchell as a woman whose husband is brutally murdered, leaving her to protect their children. Coming from a family with connections to organized crime, Mitchell's character Marta's no stranger to violence, and that may help her in the problems she faces in the wake of her husband's death.
With Red Widow on the way and dramatic shows like Revenge already on the air and doing decently at the network, Betrayal seems like a logical fit for ABC. It'll be interesting to see who's cast in the lead of this pilo and what becomes of the project going forward.
