‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
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‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
EXCLUSIVE: A famous 1980s title is eyeing a comeback. ABC has nabbed Magnum, a sequel to the classic series Magnum P.I. that starred Tom Selleck, with a script commitment plus substantial penalty. The project, from Leverage creator John Rogers and Eva Longoria’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, will keep the fun, action-packed style of the original as it follows Magnum’s daughter, Lily “Tommy” Magnum, who returns to Hawaii to take up the mantle of her father’s PI firm. She and her tribe of friends mix tropical beaches with the seedy underbelly of international crime and modern espionage, even as she tries to unravel the mystery of the blown spy operation that ended her career in Navy Intelligence.
Rogers will write the script and executive produce through his Kung Fu Monkey banner alongside UnveliEVAble’s Longoria and Ben Spector and Kung Fu Monkey’s Jennifer Court. Universal TV, which owns rights to the original series and where UnbeliEVAble is based, is the studio.
Longoria and Spector, whose UnveliEVAble is under an overall deal at Universal TV, looked at the studio’s catalog for titles that could be suited for reboot. They identified Magnum P.I. as particularly viable and relevant, and then Rogers unlocked a way in with Thomas Magnum’s daughter that he took custody of in the show’s finale. While the trio felt that rebooting the series with another Thomas Magnum would be daunting, focusing on his daughter was an organic way to update the franchise.
“We knew no one could replace the iconic role of Thomas Magnum, so John decided to make the reboot a sequel and continue the adventure of a Magnum — his daughter, who was established in the original series,” Longoria and Spector told Deadline.
Magnum P.I., created by Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, premiered in 1980 and ran on CBS for eight seasons with Selleck in his signature role as a Hawaiian P.I. Lily, who appeared in four episodes, had been raised by her mom, Magnum’s once presumed dead wife Michele, and her second husband. Following their death, the little girl was reunited with her birth father who at the end of the series vowed to provide a stable home for her.
In addition to TNT’s long-running drama Leverage, Rogers created the network’s current hit The Librarians, heading into its third season, and NBC’s The Player. His feature credits include the first Transformers movie, American Outlaws and The Core.
This is UnbeliEVAble Entertainment’s second network sale this development season, following NBC comedy Big Of Me, written by Awkward creator Lauren Iungerich, on which UnbelieEVAble is collaborating with Will Packer Productions. Longoria and Spector recently executive produced the NBC comedy series Telenovela, in which Longoria also starred, and Lifetime’s Devious Maids. Under UnbeliEVAble’s first-look deal with Universal Pictures, the duo recently sold Iungerich’s feature pitch My Daughter’s Quinceañera.
Rogers is repped by CAA, Thruline, and attorney Kim Jaime of Jackoway Tyerman. UnbeliEVAble Entertainment is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Other famous titles that have been rebooted via the daughter of an iconic character include Van Helsing, which Syfy premieres tomorrow. It centers on Vanessa “Van” Helsing, the daughter of vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing.
Rogers will write the script and executive produce through his Kung Fu Monkey banner alongside UnveliEVAble’s Longoria and Ben Spector and Kung Fu Monkey’s Jennifer Court. Universal TV, which owns rights to the original series and where UnbeliEVAble is based, is the studio.
Longoria and Spector, whose UnveliEVAble is under an overall deal at Universal TV, looked at the studio’s catalog for titles that could be suited for reboot. They identified Magnum P.I. as particularly viable and relevant, and then Rogers unlocked a way in with Thomas Magnum’s daughter that he took custody of in the show’s finale. While the trio felt that rebooting the series with another Thomas Magnum would be daunting, focusing on his daughter was an organic way to update the franchise.
“We knew no one could replace the iconic role of Thomas Magnum, so John decided to make the reboot a sequel and continue the adventure of a Magnum — his daughter, who was established in the original series,” Longoria and Spector told Deadline.
Magnum P.I., created by Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, premiered in 1980 and ran on CBS for eight seasons with Selleck in his signature role as a Hawaiian P.I. Lily, who appeared in four episodes, had been raised by her mom, Magnum’s once presumed dead wife Michele, and her second husband. Following their death, the little girl was reunited with her birth father who at the end of the series vowed to provide a stable home for her.
In addition to TNT’s long-running drama Leverage, Rogers created the network’s current hit The Librarians, heading into its third season, and NBC’s The Player. His feature credits include the first Transformers movie, American Outlaws and The Core.
This is UnbeliEVAble Entertainment’s second network sale this development season, following NBC comedy Big Of Me, written by Awkward creator Lauren Iungerich, on which UnbelieEVAble is collaborating with Will Packer Productions. Longoria and Spector recently executive produced the NBC comedy series Telenovela, in which Longoria also starred, and Lifetime’s Devious Maids. Under UnbeliEVAble’s first-look deal with Universal Pictures, the duo recently sold Iungerich’s feature pitch My Daughter’s Quinceañera.
Rogers is repped by CAA, Thruline, and attorney Kim Jaime of Jackoway Tyerman. UnbeliEVAble Entertainment is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Other famous titles that have been rebooted via the daughter of an iconic character include Van Helsing, which Syfy premieres tomorrow. It centers on Vanessa “Van” Helsing, the daughter of vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing.
#2
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Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
Interesting. At least get Selleck in for the pilot. Maybe a few guest spots here and there. I appreciate the legacy story rather than a full reboot.
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Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
Nope. Makes no sense. She would NOT be a freeloading PI. Did Longoria even watch the series? Lily's lineage is too pedigreed. Michelle was killed while a dilpomat from a car bomb. Magnum re-upped in Naval Intelligence. I highly doubt Thomas would raise a slacker that wants to be a PI.
#5
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Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
Well it says her career in the Navy was ended, so sounds like she follows dads footsteps
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#11
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Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
Weird that it's at ABC instead of Magnum's home - CBS. Maybe they aren't interested in anything that isn't a procedural.
I would have to assume the producers would have to know with reasonable certainty this is the final season of Hawaii 5-0 because I don't think there's enough studio infrastructure in Honolulu to support shooting two network drama series concomitantly. (I don't think there has ever been two Hawaii series on Network TV at the same time).
I would have to assume the producers would have to know with reasonable certainty this is the final season of Hawaii 5-0 because I don't think there's enough studio infrastructure in Honolulu to support shooting two network drama series concomitantly. (I don't think there has ever been two Hawaii series on Network TV at the same time).
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Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
How awesome would it be if the character had daddy issues and was married to Mark Harmon or Tom Berenger on the show?
#15
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Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
Magnum P.M.S.
Amirite?
Amirite?
#16
Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
I would have to assume the producers would have to know with reasonable certainty this is the final season of Hawaii 5-0 because I don't think there's enough studio infrastructure in Honolulu to support shooting two network drama series concomitantly. (I don't think there has ever been two Hawaii series on Network TV at the same time).
#17
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Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
Yeah. My friend's dad was an Assistant Director and moved him to HI to shoot Magnum. Once that ended, he and most of the crew rolled straight into Jake and the Fatman. There has been one network drama series shot in Hawaii pretty consistently since the original 5-0 series. There was some downtime before Lost, but Lost was hugely successful and then the 5-0 reboot took over all the soundstages and equipment.
#18
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
Weird that it's at ABC instead of Magnum's home - CBS. Maybe they aren't interested in anything that isn't a procedural.
I would have to assume the producers would have to know with reasonable certainty this is the final season of Hawaii 5-0 because I don't think there's enough studio infrastructure in Honolulu to support shooting two network drama series concomitantly. (I don't think there has ever been two Hawaii series on Network TV at the same time).
I would have to assume the producers would have to know with reasonable certainty this is the final season of Hawaii 5-0 because I don't think there's enough studio infrastructure in Honolulu to support shooting two network drama series concomitantly. (I don't think there has ever been two Hawaii series on Network TV at the same time).
#19
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Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC
F U Universal. This is the studio that refused to make a movie version of Magnum WITH Tom Selleck and a story by Tom Clancy. They said at the time that "no one wants to see more Magnum." Now they want to do this? Again, F U.
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Re: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Sequel About His Daughter In Works At ABC