For the second straight night, Fox has decided to commit to a new series before its upfront presentation before advertisers. The network has just ordered Lee Daniels’ Empire straight to series.
Fox put in the series order Tuesday night. The project is produced by Image Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television, reports TheWrap. Individual producers include Imagine’s Brian Grazer, The Butler writer Danny Strong, Francie Calfo and Daniels. The director, who made The Butler last year, will also helm the pilot.
Terrence Howard stars in the series as record label chief Lucius Lyon. The company is set to go public and he will stop at nothing to keep the company going. Macy Gray, Taraji P. Henson and Gabourey Sidibe co-star.
Popular real-life record producer Timbaland also joined the project to write and produce music for the series.
Fox is not waiting for the upfronts, which is when networks usually announce their upcoming TV line-ups. The network has already ordered the Batman prequel series Gotham straight-to-series, which surprised no one.