FX Canada touts new series from Billy Crystal, Diane Kruger, Guillermo del Toro

TORONTO – New series from Billy Crystal, Diane Kruger and horror master Guillermo del Toro are among the star-studded projects bound for FX Canada.

The specialty channel announced its upcoming crop of shows at a breakfast event Wednesday hosted by FX Networks boss John Landgraf, series development head Eric Schrier and Rogers Media broadcast president Scott Moore.

Landgraf said the network was significantly ramping up its roster of original programming — more than doubling its slate to about 25 series.

“That would put the FX networks collectively at a parity with a legacy broadcast network in the States — that would be comparable to what NBC, CBS or ABC are producing in terms of the amount of original programming,” said Landgraf, adding he was aiming to compete creatively with premium channels such as HBO.

FX Canada’s summer lineup will be anchored by Kruger’s crime drama “The Bridge,” also starring Demián Bichir. Premiering July 10, it centres on two detectives — one from the United States and one from Mexico — who must work together to hunt down a serial killer operating on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border.

The vampire thriller “The Strain,” from del Toro, is expected to shoot its pilot in Toronto this summer. It features Corey Stoll (“House of Cards”) as a disease specialist in New York City who is called on to investigate a strange viral outbreak.

Oscar-winner Charlie Kaufman (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Being John Malkovich”) is behind the comedy “How and Why,” which centres on a man who can explain how and why a nuclear reactor works, but is clueless about life.

Meanwhile, Crystal writes and stars in “The Comedians,” a 30-minute, single-camera comedy about a superstar veteran comedian who is reluctantly paired with a younger, edgier comic for a late-night sketch show.

Landgraf said the increasingly tough movie marketplace is driving a lot of big Hollywood talent to small screen projects, where premium cable fare is seen as dynamic, exciting and original.

“The loss in some ways of the theatrical feature business is the gain of television,” he said.

“I virtually can’t name a filmmaker, a major director, that hasn’t been through our offices in the last six or eight months. There’s virtually no actors anymore that are not accessible to us. I think it’s because the quality of the writing is so strong and because it’s just become more difficult for a lot of the top-end filmmakers to get their passion projects made.”

Examples include the limited-run series “Fargo,” slated for spring 2014. The 10-episode venture is based on the Coen brothers’ Oscar-winning crime drama and will centre on a new crime and new characters. The Coens will executive produce.

Also in development is “Grand Hotel,” about an international luxury hotel in Paris that becomes the centre of a terrorist attack; movie star Paul Giamatti executive produces “Mayflower,” which is billed as “an unflinching portrait of the Puritan settlers” and their uneasy alliance with the local Native Americans; and film writer/director Alexander Payne executive produces “Sutton,” about bank robber Willie (The Actor) Sutton.

Returning shows this fall include a New Orleans-set “American Horror Story” — titled “Coven” and starring Kathy Bates and series regular Jessica Lange; season four of the biker drama “Sons of Anarchy” and season five of the fantasy football comedy “The League.” Also back will be season two of the espionage drama, “The Americans.”

Landgraf says future plans include a Canuck TV schedule that more closely matches FX in the United States. The comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (which has already been seen on Showcase, IFC and Bite) joins the roster July 4 with season eight. That will be quickly followed by season nine this fall when FX Canada becomes the show’s exclusive Canadian broadcaster.

Canada will also get a whole new younger-skewing companion channel next January. It’ll be the homegrown counterpart to FXX, slated to begin south of the border in September.

Schrier says he hopes Canuck-made series will be part of those lineups, noting he and Landgraf were scheduled to meet later Wednesday with local producers.

“We’re looking for content from wherever we can get it and would love to have something that is a Canadian co-production,” said Schrier. “We’re actively pursuing that.”

Other returning shows include “Wilfred,” with season three debuting June 20.

And also in development is “Chozen,” an animated comedy from Danny McBride about a white rapper, recently out of prison, who uses his new survival skills in his quest for redemption.