December 2, 2016 - 16:05 AMT
FX orders a pilot for “Sons of Anarchy” spinoff, “Mayans”

FX's Sons of Anarchy spinoff is one step closer to becoming a reality.

FX has officially ordered a pilot for the project, titled Mayans MC, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Sons of Anarchy co-creators Kurt Sutter and Elgin James co-wrote the pilot script. Sutter will exec produce and James will co-exec produce the drama from Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions. Sutter is also set to direct the pilot, which begins production in March.

Mayans MC is set in a post Jax Teller world, where EZ Reyes, a prospect in the Mayan MC charter on the Cali-Mexi border, struggles with his desire for vengeance against the cartel and his need for respect from the women he loves.

The Mayans played a pivotal role on Sons, which was FX's highest-rated drama series in the cable network's history during its seven-season run.

Sutter first revealed he was developing an offshoot of the popular franchise in a cover story for The Hollywood Reporter in August 2015 prior to the launch of his period drama The Bastard Executioner. He said the spinoff would be a different show and that "tone, pace, storytelling will be unique." (The spinoff will not be set in Northern California as Sons was.)

"I wanted to find a strong, unique Latino voice. Because I didn't think a white guy from Jersey should be writing about Latin culture and traditions. Elgin is that voice," Sutter said at the time.

Mayans MC received a script order at FX in May. The project comes after Sutter pulled the plug on his own series, Bastard Executioner, in a Hollywood Reporter ad in November 2015. "I don’t want to write something that nobody's f—ing watching," he told THR at the time about the show's low viewership.

Should Mayans MC go to series, it would be the latest spinoff as cable networks look to use familiar IP to break through in the era of Peak TV. AMC is home to spinoffs Fear the Walking Dead and Better Call Saul.