A TV series from days gone by sitting around, not yet marched off to the adaptation factory? A crime, surely! So Universal is making sure to take one more show off that list, setting up a film of ‘70s ‘tec show The Rockford Files as a likely starring vehicle for Vince Vaughn.
The original show, created by Roy Huggins and prolific producer Stephen J Cannell, found James Garner as beach-bum gumshoe who lived in a mobile home in Malibu. He dressed even more shabbily than Columbo and tended to use his guile and gift for the gab to get himself out of trouble instead of reaching for a weapon.
The series ran between 1974 and 1980, and attracted quite the following, which means there will be plenty of eyes on this one if it makes it through the development woods. Vaughn seems like he could handle the chatty charm of Garner’s performance, though he'd need to be even more laid back than his Dodgeball mode to match Garner's well-nigh horizontal ease.
Right now, it’s early days. This is not the first time someone has tried to bring Rockford back: the most recent attempt was last year, when US network (and Universal corporate sibling) NBC tried to stage a telly relaunch with Dermot Mulroney as Rockford, but that didn’t make it past the pilot stage. Ocean’s Thirteen scripting team David Levien and Brian Koppelman are on board to write this movie’s script, after which the hunt for a director could well begin.
Meanwhile, Vaughn has Stephen Frears gambling pic Lay The Favourite waiting for a UK release date and will next be seen in comedy** Neighbourhood Watch**, which arrives on August 29.