According to Deadline, a new action drama from House creator David Shore, Charlie’s Angels Director McG, and John Davis’ Davis Entertainment (The Blacklist) has landed a pilot with Fox. The project will be loosely based on I Spy, the 1965 adventure series and hails from Sony Pictures TV, where Davis Entertainment and Shore are based. As of now, the studio is finishing up the co-production agreement with 20th Century Fox TV, where McG signed an overall deal recently.
The untitled series was written by Shore and will be directed by McG. The drama centers on a seasoned spy whose partner is an enterprising civilian. Together, they solve high-stakes cases locally and abroad. Originally, the project started at Sony TV as a reboot of I Spy, the dramedy which starred Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. The project was then taken out, landing at Fox with a put pilot, which often guarantees that the pilot will be picked up by the network.
But later, the I Spy project evolved into not a remake but a new take on the buddy spy genre from SHore and McG that differed greatly from the Sheldon Leonard-produced NBC series about two U.S. spies traveling the globe with secret identities. So basically the untitled spy drama will only be loosely based on I Spy and as of now, will not be titled the same as the 1960s series.
This particular reboot isn’t the only remake that the network is developing or has launched. Other revivals of movie or TV brands include Lethal Weapon, The Exorcist, 24: Legacy and the Prison Break limited series. Currently, all four series are doing well, however remaking a series that Cosby was connected closely with may prove to be risky for a network who gave a public sentiment toward the comedian who was accused of sexual assault by multiple women.