Hit 1980s TV soap opera Dynasty is set to be revived for a new movie prequel.
The popular show, which ran from 1981 until 1989, focused on a rich oil family in Colorado and starred late actor John Forsythe as tycoon Blake Carrington, alongside Linda Evans and Joan Collins.
Original Dynasty creator Richard Shapiro has now announced plans to bring the show back for a big screen outing, and he's revealed the new film will be set before the TV series and show how Forsythe's character discovers he is heir to an oil fortune.
Shapiro tells E! Online, "We've given thought to the movie before and we've been approached by a lot of companies, but no one seemed to have a proper fix on it. Then suddenly we said, 'Let's do it (ourselves)!' - and we're the ones to do it... It was my daughter Florie's notion to do a prequel, and that sounded very very good to us.
"It's how young Blake doesn't realise he's the son of Tom Carrington, but then he finds himself at the head of this company and surrounded by assassins and people who want to do him in."
Rival 1980s drama series Dallas is also set to make a comeback - TV bosses are planning a new small screen version of the hit show.
Dynasty actor Christopher Cazenove has died after losing his battle with a bout of blood poisoning. He was 64.
The British star, best known for his role as Ben Carrington in the glamorous 1980s soap opera, passed away in a London hospital on Wednesday.
Cazenove was taken ill at the end of February and admitted to St Thomas' Hospital in the British capital, where doctors diagnosed him with septicaemia. He spent over a month in an intensive care unit fighting for his life before his death this week.
Cazenove's passing comes just days after the death of his onscreen brother John Forsythe, who played Blake Carrington in the show. Forsythe died last Thursday at the age of 92.
A statement from Cazenove's agent Lesley Duff confirms the sad news: "Christopher died peacefully on April 7 surrounded by his loved ones having contracted septicaemia at the end of February. Despite a valiant fight and the untiring efforts of the wonderful team at St Thomas', he was overwhelmed. All who knew and loved him will be devastated by the loss of this incredible man who touched so many lives."
Cazenove's first major role came in 1970s U.K. TV show The Regiment, and he went on to star in a string of films before landing the part that made his name, playing opposite Joan Collins in Dynasty between 1986 and 1987.
The actor went on to star in notable movies including 1990's Three Men and a Little Lady, the sequel to Three Men and a Baby, and 2001's A Knight's Tale, in which he played the father of Heath Ledger's character.
He was last seen in British TV series Hotel Babylon in 2009.
Cazenove is survived by his son Rhys, from his marriage to actress Angharad Rees. The former couple's eldest son, Linford, was killed in a car crash in 1999. Cazenove was in a relationship with girlfriend Isabel Davis, who he had been dating since 2003, at the time of his death.
Joan Collins, Kate Jackson and Heather Locklear have paid tribute to late actor John Forsythe, who died on Thursday after a four-year cancer battle.
The trio worked with the TV icon on beloved shows Dynasty and Charlie's Angel.
Collins, who played the ex-wife of Forsythe's Blake Carrington character in Dynasty, called the actor "the last of the true gentleman of the acting profession."
A statement from the British star reads, "I enjoyed my nine years of feuding, fussing and fighting as the Carringtons and I was so glad to have had the chance to reunite with him a few years ago in the Dynasty reunion. He will be greatly missed."
Locklear, who also appeared alongside Forsythe in the Dynasty series, says, "John was a gentleman in every sense of the word... He was a gifted actor who knew the true meaning of being gracious and kind."
And Jackson, who played one of his Angels in Charlie's Angels, tells People.com she has fond memories of trying to avoid him on the set: "I made an effort never to see him when he came in to (record) his voiceover, but I left messages for him and he would leave me a note saying, 'Hi Sabrina, it's Charlie. You'll never catch me!'"
Forsythe voiced the character of detective agency boss Charlie, who was never seen.
Jackson adds, "He had a grace about him that was incredibly awesome... He was wonderful."
Dynasty star John Forsythe, who played patriarch Blake Carrington on the primetime soap and was the voice of Charlie in the TV version of Charlie's Angels, lost his nearly four-year-battle with cancer on Thursday.
In a statement Friday, Reuters reported, "The family of John Forsythe sadly announces his passing on April 1, 2010. He was 92 years old and, thankfully, he died as he lived his life ... with dignity and grace, after a years-long struggle with cancer."
Forsythe, who also played Bentley Gregg, the swinging single saddled with an orphaned niece on the 1957-62 sitcom Bachelor Father, received three Emmy nominations for Dynasty, which ran from 1981-89. After making his film debut in 1943, he also appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock movies The Trouble with Harry (1955) and Topaz (1969), as well as 1988's Bill Murray comedy Scrooged, among many others.
Born John Lincoln Freund in Penn's Grove, N.J., Forsythe found his first love in the Brooklyn Dodgers. He dropped out of the University of North Carolina to become their stadium announcer.
A two-year marriage at 20 to actress Paula McCormick produced a son, Dall. A second marriage, to Julie Warren, lasted from 1943 until her death in 1994 and produced two daughters: Page and Brooke.
In 2002, he married businesswoman Nicole Carter, who, along with his children, survive him.
After serving as a speech rehabilitation counselor for shell-shocked Air Force pilots during World War II ("maybe the most rewarding moments of my life," he told People Magazine), Forsythe came back to the Actors Studio and theater. Teahouse of the August Moon and Mr. Roberts on Broadway led to TV and his movie career.
In 2006, it was revealed Forsythe had been diagnosed with colon cancer.
He will be remembered for his distinguished voice and courtly presence on screen. Off screen, it was his modesty that separated him from the rest of the crowd.
In 1979, Forsythe said, "I'm not a soaring talent. I am a good journeyman actor, but nowhere near the league of Brando or Scott. Those people are touched by the hand of God."
Hit 1980s TV soap opera Dynasty is set to be revived for a new movie prequel.
