CHiPs: Dax Shepard Talks About the Movie Remake

CHiPs is headed to the big screen with a film in March, and the film will be a deviation from the classic 1970s NBC television series. Dax Shepherd revealed a bit about the plot of the film in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

He revealed the following about Ponch and Jon:

“Michael Pena’s character, he plays Ponch, is an FBI agent who’s asked to go undercover within the CHP to help them figure out which cops are dirty. I am a retired ex-games writer who doesn’t know how to do anything but ride a motorcycle. In an attempt to save my marriage I decide I have to get a new job and the only thing I can do is ride a motorcycle. My wife’s dad’s a cop. Maybe this will woo her back. I join without any necessary desire to be a cop, which I think is the fun of the movie. You have one guy who’s an FBI agent, so he has no reverie for the institution of the CHP and then you have another guy who’s two days on the job and doesn’t have any reverie. Two guys who don’t really necessarily care all that much about upholding any kind of CHP standard.”

The CHiPs film was shot on location in Los Angeles, and the production was able to film at CHP Central, which was the also used for the original series. Shepherd revealed he had to make some changes to the script to bring the CHP on board and gain access to the location for filming. He said the following:

“I think it was a precarious decision for them to be involved because it is an R-rated comedy. I think they ultimately took the position, luckily, that the movie was going to happen with or without them, so we basically had some very light compromises. They had some pretty modest requests that I was able to change in the script phase so that they would be a little happier. And then because of that we had access to CHP central, which is really crucial to me. I really wanted to be able to shoot at that iconic station that the show had shot at.”

Entertainment Weekly also shared the first official photo from the film. Check that out below. Do you plan to check out CHiPs on the big screen? How do you feel about the changes that were made for the film version? Tell us what you think.