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"S.W.A.T." Storming Back to Tube
The Hollywood retread mill is at it again.
Fresh off its big-screen killing, S.W.A.T. is getting primed for a return to TV.
According to Daily Variety, Sony Pictures Television, along with Original Film producers Neil Moritz and Marty Adelstein, are talking with all four broadcast networks about developing a new tube version of the hit actioner starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell.
The updated S.W.A.T. TV series would take its inspiration more from the Clark Johnson-helmed flick than the 1970s Aaron Spelling-produced television drama, whose stars included then-fledgling young actor Robert Urich.
The original S.W.A.T., featuring the famous theme song coopted by the movie, ran for just two seasons on ABC, from 1975-76, but has lived on in syndication. It starred Steve Forrest as Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrison, Rod Perry as Sgt. David "Deacon" Kay, Mark Shera as Officer Dominic Luca, James Coleman as Officer T.J. McCabe and Urich as Officer Jim Street. They played a group of military-style cops who traveled around in a tricked-out van and regularly blasted away the bad guys.
S.W.A.T. the movie features Farrell taking on Urich's role as Jim Street, an elite member of the Los Angeles police department's Special Weapons and Tactics Unit. He's thrown off his team following a controversial decision he made during a hostage standoff.
Street ends up accepting a demotion hoping to get back on the beat and rejoin his comrades. He's eventually recruited by Hondo Harrelson (Jackson) for a revamped S.W.A.T. team charged with escorting a notorious drug lord out of the city and into federal custody. Only the new group find itself under attack from a band of mercenaries hired to spring the kingpin.
The flick also features LL Cool J in the Deacon Kay role, Josh Charles as T.J. McCabe and Michelle Rodriguez as Chris Sanchez (replacing the MIA Dominic Luna).
In two weeks of release, the film has already swatted up $70 million in ticket sales.
The pilot for the updated TV series will be penned by veteran scribes Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, who are well suited to the blow-it-up genre, having previously collaborated on Face/Off. It's unlikely any of the film's stars would participate in the small-screen version.
Variety reports that at least two networks are interested in acquiring the show and a deal could happen within the week.
A rep for Sony had no comment on the report Friday.
Of course, this isn't the first time a classic TV franchise has been reborn after being translated into a blockbuster flick. The Fugitive, reincarnated as Harrison Ford's 1993 monster hit, was briefly rejuvenated on TV with Tim Daly in the lead.
Then of course, there's Star Trek, which spawned a series of popular movies with the original cast before the arrival of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and now Enterprise.
If all goes as planned, expect to see S.W.A.T. hitting the tube in fall 2004.
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