A reboot of Friday Night Lights is in the works at Universal Television, with Jason Katims (Away, As We See It), Pete Berg (Chicago Hope) and Brian Grazer (Arrested Development) attached to the project, Deadline has confirmed.
This new iteration of the beloved football drama will feature a completely new storyline, still set in the high school football world, but with fresh characters instead of the original cast, which included Kyle Chandler (Bloodline, The Wolf of Wall Street), Connie Britton (Nashville), Taylor Kitsch (John Carter), and Jesse Plemons (Love & Death, Breaking Bad).
Although the project is in its early stages, it has already been introduced to the market. The idea of reviving Friday Night Lights has been in the conversation for years since the show wrapped after five seasons. Based on H.G. Bissinger’s book and the 2004 film, the original series followed a high school football team in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, with Eric Taylor (Chandler) as the coach and his wife, Tami (Britton), as a key figure.
The original cast also included Minka Kelly (The Roommate, Titans), Adrianne Palicki (The Orville), Jurnee Smollett (Lovecraft Country), Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther) and Matt Lauria (Kingdom). Produced by Universal Television, Imagine Television, and Film 44, the show debuted on NBC in 2006, running for two seasons before a partnership with DirecTV brought three additional seasons to The 101 Network, later airing on NBC.