LAPRIME8 sent in some news regarding a forthcoming project from Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope and Telescene (Showtime’s "The Hunger").

It’s all about DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. The project to which laPrime8 refers is, more specifically, a pilot for a new syndicated series based on those characters.

SPOILER ALERT!

THERE ARE "JEKYLL & HYDE" SPOILERS HERE!!!

IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE PILOT OT THE NEW COPPOLA SERIES ABOUT JEKYLL AND HYDE, DO NOT READ PAST THIS PARAGRAPH !!!

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Here’s what laPrime8 had to say:

J&H is a pilot for a new syndicated show called Dr. JEKYLL & Mr. HYDE...but it's not your father's J&H. This is a Campbell-esque, John Woo-inspired thrill ride produced by the Godfather himself -- Francis Ford Coppola.

The first episode is 2 hours long and is entitled "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Chapter 1 "YEAR OF THE TIGER."

The story goes like this: Dr. Henry Jekyll, a young, cocky surgeon, has just ended his tenure as a county hospital doctor and is about to go on to greener, more lucrative pastures as a plastic surgeon.

Anticipating a wealthy, happy future with his adored new bride Muriel, Jekyll goes to Hong Kong (a place he's always been fascinated with) for their honeymoon, where the blissful one day marriage ends in tragedy.

Jekyll - in the wrong place at the wrong time - is caught in the middle of a violent Hong Kong Triad war and winds up blown apparently to death, along with his new bride. Massively burned, desperately ill, he is resurrected by a talented Chinese medicine doctor, Dr. Chau.

Though Jekyll at first is incredulous, his miraculous recovery is brought about by ancient healing herbs and powders, not high tech Western medical science. Changed in appearance, the grief-stricken Jekyll learns that he is being sought in connection with his wife's death, and instinctively changes his name to Edward Hyde (as in "HIDE-ing out), hoping to bury his former identity.

He begins to entertain thoughts of vengeance against Muriel's murderers, and is driven in his rage to make his own potion from Dr. Chau's many ingredients, concocting a brew that turns him into a changed being - his physicality slightly altered, his eyes more intense, flaring with anger, and a lower, deeper, more primal version of his normal speaking voice, all fueled by a primordial hyper-energy transmuted by sheer hate.

His first experiment - in which he kills one of his wife's murderers - is physically too much for him, he works with Dr. Chau, becoming his protege, to refine the ingredients that go into making him his crime-fighting alter-ego--along with healthy doses of martial arts and spiritual training.

Ultimately, Hyde learns a truth that shocks him to the core of his being: according to the ancient Chinese Book of Being, his arrival in Hong Kong was predestined, and he himself fated to become the legendary "White Tiger" -- an almost mythical crime fighter whose destiny is inextricably linked to the mysterious powerful city of Hong Kong.

Check this out -- One of the villains in the script known as "The Dragon" (I understand the running B-story will be the Dragon vs. the Tiger) runs a human "chopshop" where a creepy Asian Dr. Mengela cuts up bodies and sells the parts to the highest bidder.

Some of my favorite lines:

Mr Hyde to his mentor Dr. Chau: What do you want me to do first? Snatch a pebble out of your hand?

Dr. Chau: Silence.

He STABS Hyde in the chest with his finger. Hyde gulps air, trying to catch his breath.

Dr. Chau: First I teach you to breathe.

After Hyde's alter ego the Tiger forces a villain to eat a live, poisonous Puffer-Fish...

Tiger: Too raw for you? Most people prefer their puffer-fish cooked. But alive is so much more...interesting.

Glen here again. Hopefully, more info about J&H will be coming in soon. As a whole, I’m interested in seeing whether or not this premise can be made to work. On the one hand, it seems a little like Jekyll & Hyde meets Remo Williams meets Batman. On the other hand, I also know that just about *any* premise can work well if the right people are in control of it.

I kinda like the idea of the store which harvests body parts. Of course… now that I’ve said that…I’ll be chased down by Feds who think I’m a serial killer…