Minka Kelly, Christian Slater, And John Malkovich Score New Pilots

With pilot season upon us, it’s time for big announcements for television with big and upcoming stars attached.

Last week it was announced that Entourage star Kevin Connolly would join James Van Der Beek in the CBS sitcom Friends With Better Lives. This week we have announcements of new pilots with Minka Kelly, John Malkovich and Christian Slater attached respectively to projects.

First up is Christian Slater. In the past Slater has been attached to both FOX and ABC pilots that haven’t had much luck past the first season. This season he returns to ABC with a drama called Influence. The series is created by defunct Awake show runner Kyle Killen. In the series Slater will be opposite Steve Zahn. The pilot is said to focus on a relationship between two brothers Clark (Zahn) is a bipolar genius into human psychology and Ross (Slater) is an ex-con who also heads up an agency designed to “solve their clients’ problems using the real science of human and manipulation.”

Next up is Minka Kelly who has had some success in arc-type guest stints, most notably on NBC’s Parenthood. The star, who can be seen in the upcoming flick The Butler, is heading to FOX with a new J.J. Abrams pilot. The show is an action cop series. Minka’s show centers around Friday Night Lights alum, Kelly, and her android partner Dorian (Michael Ealy).

Finally the big surprise to come out of these announcements is the unpredictable character actor John Malkovich. The actor is set to star in NBC’s 10-episode drama on the golden age of piracy going back to the 1700s. In the series Malkovich is set to play a famed pirate, who’s story is based on the Colin Woodard novel The Republic of Pirates.

Which pilot are you most excited for? John Malkovich, Minka Kelly, or Christian Slater? Which will survive? You decide.