As if Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Blade Runner 2 and Indiana Jones 5 weren’t enough, Warner Bros. is digging up another Harrison Ford classic, 1993’s The Fugitive, for a new installment.
No word yet on whether Ford or Tommy Lee Jones will be reprising their roles from the Andrew Davis-directed film, which won Jones an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The Fugitive was nominated in six other categories, including Best Picture, which it lost to Schindler’s List.
Christina Hodson, an up-and-comer who penned upcoming Naomi Watts thriller Shut In and had script The Eden Project snapped up by Sony, will scribe the update, which is not believed to be a remake so much as a franchise-reigniting sequel.
The original film, which was based on a tremendously popular ABC series of the same name, birthed a sequel called U.S. Marshals that had little to do with its predecessor outside of Jones’ character, but it’s also unclear whether the new project will consider that follow-up to be canon.
Production is planned for 2016, with Arnold and Anne Kopelson back as producers and worldwide production president Greg Silverman also steering the project through development.
Though it’s been more than 20 years since the first Fugitive, the original is still highly regarded, so it will be interesting to see how Warner Bros. plans to simultaneously honor it while moving the franchise into modern times. While it may not be quote-unquote necessary to revisit the film, the original producers standing by this new take is enough to give me a little faith that this is more than just a blatant attempt to cash in on the widespread nostalgia that new installments of Star Wars, Blade Runner and Indiana Jones are sure to bring back in full force.
