The idea for a TV adaptation of James Cameron's 1994 spy action comedy thriller True Lies has been floating around for nearly a decade now, with Cameron himself involved in the early going. He's since given his blessing for The Babysitter director (and prolific TV producer) McG to keep that flame alive, and he in turn is now aiming it at Disney's streaming service.
It's a move that seems logical, because the project originated at 20th Century Fox TV, which was scooped up by Disney in its merger deal. The original, as you probably don't need to be told, found Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) might be having an affair with a used car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States. After years of keeping his family in the dark as to his real job, he finds them brought into his high-octane world. There has been chatter about a cinematic sequel for years, but with Cameron so busy making Avatar movies, one seems unlikely unless he pulls an Alita and hands it off to someone else. Which means this appears to be the natural next iteration: the TV reboot.
"I’m writing that one, which is very exciting, because I’m so passionate about that story where you think you know your partner but you don’t," McG tells Collider Live, going on to say that he's still at a relatively early stage with the script, breaking the outline and planning to work on it this summer. The Mouse House has yet to make a formal announcement about it, but with work at such an embryonic point, that makes sense. As for the tone of the show, McG's not elaborating, but he does answer a question as to whether there might be a role for Schwarzenegger. "There’s talk of that. It’s largely rebooted but there may be a spot there, we’ll see," he says. And for McG himself, he seems to have found a new groove with TV between The Babysitter and now Netflix's Rim Of The World, which is due this week, he's been focusing on small screen output. You can find the full interview with McG here.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire on Great Magazines and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.