David Mamet is usually found adapting his own work for screens both big and small, but he has dabbled in other sources (The Winslow Boy, for instance). Now he’s taking that trick to television, aiming to reboot the 1950s Western series Have Gun – Will Travel for US network CBS.
The show, which aired on the network between 1957 and 1963 (and also found success on the radio), starred Richard Boone as Paladin, a hotshot gunslinger who preferred to settle issues without resorting to flinging bullets, but who could hold his own when called out.
Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow created the original version, which recruited several notable writers, the most famous of which was Gene Roddenberry, who would go on to make a little show called Star Trek.
This will mark Mamet’s second TV show following military drama The Unit, which he co-created with The Shield’s Shawn Ryan and which ran for four years. For Gun, Mamet will direct the pilot and act as executive producer, but no other details have emerged yet.
Mamet’s most recent gig has also been for the small screen, as he’s written a Phil Spector biopic starring Al Pacino that will air on HBO.