Before you dig into this article, just know that Chris Pine isn’t attached to this in any way whatsoever…yet.
If there hasn’t previously been a conspiracy theory that actor Chris Pine is actually some sort of Shatner-clone who’s had his life and career planned out for him in advance, maybe there should be. Word has it today that 1980s William Shatner cop show, T.J. Hooker is headed to big screens as an action comedy with David Foster, Ryan Heppe and series creator Rick Husky producing.
For those of you who are younger than, say, the Bernie Goetz controversy, T.J. Hooker was the other Shatner show that featured the former starship captain as a hard-nosed street cop who was partnered with ’80s heartthrob Adrian Zmed (the guy at Shatner’s Comedy Central Roast whom you wondered who the hell he was) as young officer Vince Romano. It was also the show that made it okay to want to get frisked by the cops thanks to a very young Heather Locklear. It ran for five seasons on ABC and CBS and was produced by TV uber-producer Aaron Spelling).
Now Chuck Russell is in talks to helm a big screen adaptation as a comedy, which will be written by Brent Maddock and S.S. Willson and focus on the relationship between the title character and his father. Said producer Heppe: “The series was the poster child for cop TV shows in the 1980s with
great stunts, so we think there’s a fun movie to be made from it.” Maddock and Willson have ranged from the great (Tremors, Short Circuit) to the dreadful (Ghost Dad), so it remains to be seen how this will turn out. They’re also slated to make a return in the remake of Short Circuit in 2010 Meanwhile, Russell is getting his first theatrical gig since 2002’s The Scorpion King. Personally, I remember watching the show as a lad, but haven’t seen an episode in 20+ years
Now of course Chris Pine will probably have nothing whatsoever to do with this project, and there’s no mention if Shatner, Locklear or co-star James Darren will make an appearance either. But one could always hope that Zmed can get some time off from his janitor job long enough to do a cameo.