According to Deadline, David Levien and Brian Koppelman have been hired by Universal Pictures to write a Rockford Files movie, based on the 1974-80 TV series. The film is being developed as a star vehicle for Vince Vaughn. The actor and his older sister, Victoria Vaughn, will produce through their Wild West Picture Show Productions company which operates out of Universal.
James Garner stars in the original TV show as down-and-out private eye Jim Rockford. Created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell, Rockford was a private eye who’d served time in San Quentin due to a wrongful conviction.
Unlike other detective characters of the day, Rockford was often disheveled, would use his charms and feet to get out of trouble, and wanted to make sure that he would get paid before taking on a client. His infrequent jobs as a private investigator barely allow him to maintain his dilapidated mobile home/office in a parking lot on the beaches of Malibu, California.
A pilot for a remake of the TV series was written and produced for NBC by House’s David Shore in 2010. Dermot Mulroney was cast as the title character but it was deemed that the pilot wasn’t strong enough to move forward as a series for the 2010-11 season. The project was given to Peter Berg to rewrite and produce but apparently hasn’t moved forward.
What do you think? Do you think Vaughn could pull off Jim Rockford? Who would you cast in the supporting roles as his father Rocky, friend Angel Martin, or Sgt. Dennis Becker?
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