Proving that there are seemingly no films that companies can’t consider for the TV-reboot machine, Warner Bros. TV and Fox in the US are teaming up to work on a Lethal Weapon series.
Writer/producer Matt Miller is in charge of developing the new show, which has a pilot order from Fox. He’ll weave elements from the original series in with new twists – the show will follow the exploits of a former Navy SEAL and Texas police officer who moves to LA after the death of his wife and young child, and is paired with an LAPD detective who has to avoid stress at all costs because he has a heart condition – in the hopes of capturing some of the success of the film franchise. It’ll also offer two new actors the unenviable task of filling roles that aren’t quite Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny Glover). Whether anyone will proclaim themselves too old for this shit is, at the time of writing, unknown.
It’s a somewhat surprising move, since Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver had been trying to get another film instalment squeezed out. But then, we suppose given Gibson’s reputation, that’s becoming increasingly tough. This embryonic project joins up-and-running movie-to-TV concepts such as Limitless and Minority Report, with Rush Hour and Uncle Buck on their way to Stateside screens next year.
In related telly news – though technically heading in the opposite direction – there is an update on the MacGyver project that James Wan had been busy producing. While it was presumed to be destined for cinemas, it will in fact be a reboot TV series, taking its cue from the cult favourite original, and updating with a younger MacGyver when he’s first recruited by a clandestine organization looking to make use of his problem-solving smarts. Wan is still attached, and will likely direct the pilot, which will be written by NCIS veteran R. Scott Gemmill. There will be no mullet this time, presumably. Maybe a fauxhawk?