An action-comedy film adaptation of the 1980s police procedural series “T. J. Hooker” is in the works at Netflix after the streamer landed rights to the property.
The original series starred William Shatner in his first major television role since the cancellation of the original “Star Trek” more than 10 years earlier (though by the ’80s, “Trek” re-runs had fostered a devoted fanbase of Trekkies and Paramount had reunited the cast and turned the property into a blockbuster franchise).
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Created by Ryan Husky, “T. J. Hooker” premiered in 1982 on ABC and went on to enjoy a five-season run. CBS aired and produced its final season, along with a TV movie titled “Blood Sport.” Alongside Shatner as the eponymous police sergeant and war veteran, the series featured a younger cast of spunky recruits, played by Heather Locklear, Adrian Zmed and James Darren.
The Netflix film adaptation will aim for a more meta and comic tone than the original series. Producers have begun talks with Shatner with expectations that the 94-year-old will be involved with the project in some capacity.
“T. J. Hooker” has tapped Jarrad Paul and Andy Mogel to write. The pair previously shared co-writing credits on the Jim Carrey comedy “Yes Man” and re-teamed to direct and write the high school reunion comedy “The D Train.”
Since then, the duo have set up shop at Netflix. They are currently co-showrunners on stand-up Bert Kreischer’s coming scripted comedy series “Free Bert.” They also co-wrote “Little Brother,” a Netflix comedy feature that will be directed by Matt Spicer and star John Cena and Eric Andre.
Producers on the film include Sophie Cassidy and Matt Crespy for 2.0 Entertainment, Adrian Askarieh for Prime Universe Films and Alex Westmore for Vali Vista Films.
Deadline was first to report on the adaptation in the works at Netflix.
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