tV series based on l s are all t e rage
ANOTHER reboot is making its way to television – this time, a
Varsity Blues show, based on the 1999 film.
Sources say the project is very early in development, but CMT bought a script for the potential series. The original movie’s writer, W. Peter Iliff, is writing the script and Paramount TV is producing.
Varsity Blues became a cult favourite, surprisingly making over US$ 54mil at the box- office. The coming- of- age football flick starred James Van Der Beek, Paul Walker, Jon Voight, Ron Lester and Scott Caan. As for the TV project, Deadline first reported the development news.
The recognisable and beloved title is a “get” for CMT, which has been ramping up its original content lately and making noise with consumer- friendly programming choices – most recently by picking up Nash ville, after ABC cancelled the fan- favourite series. For Paramount TV, the Varsity
Blues series is the second project based on a Paramount film to be announced last week, following Amazon’s Jack Ryan series, which was given the greenlight too with actor John Krasinski in the titular role.
Since its relaunch in 2013, Paramount TV has been building up their slate at a rapid pace. Among their current development projects is 13 Reasons Wh y at Netflix, produced by Selena Gomez; Maniac at Netflix, starring Jonah Hill and Emma Stone; and a
Battlefield series, based on the popular video games.
Varsity Blues is the latest film property to get the television reboot treatment. Coming up on the broadcast networks in the 2016- 2017 season is CW’s
Frequency, CBS’s Training Day, plus Fox’s upcoming revivals of
Th e Exorcist and Leth al Weapon.