In a move sure to piss off some old fans of the show (or new fans weaned on reruns), Universal Pictures has decided that rebooting The Rockford Files as a TV show isn’t the way to go and that a movie would be a better fit. Starring in this movie will be Vince Vaughn, the smarmy motherfucker who is probably a better fit for the detective than many would care to admit.
There aren’t any details about the approach, though I wouldn’t expect a full-on period homage piece like, say, Starsky & Hutch. In fact, the success of 21 Jump Street may have been the classic-TV-series-reboot aphrodisiac for the studio, which might point to a straightforward, modern comedic take on the basic premise of a disheveled PI that prefers talking his way out of snags rather than shooting. If Vaughn isn’t your cup of tea, don’t write off the project yet- it’s being written by David Levien and Brian Koppelman, who are no strangers to sharp dialogue and entertaining banter having written flicks like Rounders, Knockaround Guys, and Ocean‘s 13.
An entertaining show in its own right (often listed among the best ever, in fact), the program also has some fun trivia associated with it. Along with the gift of its famous theme — which won a Grammy after 16 weeks on the Top 100, where it peaked at #10 — The Rockford Files also bestowed on us David Chase, who went on to create The Sopranos nearly two decades after cutting his teeth on NBC’s hit show.
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Source | Deadline