Jerry Bruckheimer Adapting 'American Gigolo' for Paramount TV
He produced the 1980 feature starring Richard Gere
Paramount TV is adapting 1980's American Gigolo.
Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton starrer, will executive produce the new take. Paul Schrader, who directed and wrote the original, is on board as an exec consultant.
“With its signature noir aesthetic, American Gigolo has remained a deeply entertaining, psychological thriller and I’m thrilled to partner with [Paramount CEO] Brad [Grey] and [Paramount TV president] Amy [Powell] on remaking it into a television series,” Bruckheimer said.
Jerry Bruckheimer Television's Jonathan Littman will exec produce, with the company's KristieAnne Reed on board as a co-EP; Michael Azzolino will produce.
American Gigolo joins a rapidly growing roster of remakes in the works this development season. Paramount TV is also teaming with Amblin TV and 20th TV for a follow-up of Tom Cruise feature Minority Report. Paramount TV, which returned to production in 2013 with CBS' ill-fated Beverly Hills Cop, is also looking to its film library for TV adaptations including Ghost, Terminator and The Truman Show, among other original fare, including Fox's live production of Grease.
Meanwhile, Fox is also reviving Big and Monster-in-Law; CBS is tackling Rush Hour and In Good Company, CW is plotting The Illusionist, and Showtime and MGM TV are rebooting In the Heat of the Night, to name a few. Fox also has a comedy based on Jennifer Lopez-starrer Monster-In-Law and another small-screen adaptation of Bewitched — from SPT — is set up at NBC, which also is also developing adaptations of Marley & Me, Problem Child and The Money Pit.
The wave of remakes — including Hitch — comes as networks look to cut through the clutter in an increasingly competitive scripted landscape. Key to the remakes is having the original producers on board — something 20th TV learned with its planned Say Anything reboot. While the studio's parent company owns the rights to the feature, the original producers were not involved. The studio legally could have moved forward without their consent but ultimately opted to scrap the TV follow-up.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
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