Larry Hagman is a lock! TNT confirmed today that Larry Hagman will participate in the Dallas reboot that’s in the works at the cabler. Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray will also appear in the pilot that’s based on characters created by David Jacobs and executive produced by Cynthia Cidre (Cane).
The original Dallas aired from 1978 to 1991 and followed the Ewing family of Southfork. (Hagman played J.R. Ewing, Gray played his wife Sue Ellen, and Duffy portrayed J.R.’s younger brother Bobby). The modern story will focus on the Ewing offspring – J.R. Ewing’s son, John Ross, and the adopted son of Bobby and Pam Ewing, Christopher – as they clash over the future of the family dynasty.
Josh Henderson (Desperate Housewives) will play John Ross while Jordana Brewster (Fast & Furious) will play Elena, who is involved in a love triangle with Christopher and John.
Hagman told Entertainment Weekly in September that he continues to make appearances on behalf of Dallas, which syndicates in 60 countries today. ”It’s like an annuity, really,” Hagman said. ”I go out, they adore me, and then they pay you. What better job can you have?”
This isn’t the first time that someone’s tried to revive the Texas oil family drama that aired from 1978 to 1991. In 2006, Twentieth Century Fox decided to adapt the soap for the big screen, closing deals with John Travolta, Jennifer Lopez, and Luke Wilson. But then research indicated that the Dallas brand didn’t mean much to younger moviegoers, says a source close to the project. Travolta and Lopez soon dropped out.
A Dallas reboot without J.R. Ewing? TNT can’t imagine it! Despite an internet report that the cabler’s remake of the classic CBS drama is moving ahead without Larry Hagman, Entertainment Weekly learned that the network is hopeful a deal can and will be reached with the original star.
TNT has already persuaded Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy to make appearances in the new version, which was penned by Cynthia Cidre (Cane) and focuses on the sons of J.R. and Bobby Ewing. The network remains high on the new iteration, even though it has yet to begin production on a pilot. “I don’t want to give away the plot, but [Cynthia] found something authentic to business and to Dallas that allows them to trade on the same dynamic of the super wealthy,” TNT/TBS programming head Michael Wright told Variety on Thursday. “Dallas was always something of an Upstairs Downstairs paradigm. If it wasn’t the rich and poor, it was attitude – entitlement versus a populist point of view. This covers all that.”
Meanwhile, Hagman told Entertainment Weekly in September that he continues to make appearances on behalf of Dallas, which syndicates in 60 countries today. ”It’s like an annuity, really,” Hagman, 78, said. ”I go out, they adore me, and then they pay you. What better job can you have?” He seemed willing to do the Dallas reboot.
This isn’t the first time that someone’s tried to revive the Texas oil family drama that aired from 1978 to 1991. In 2006, Twentieth Century Fox decided to adapt the soap for the big screen, closing deals with John Travolta, Jennifer Lopez, and Luke Wilson. But then research indicated that the Dallas brand didn’t mean much to younger moviegoers, says a source close to the project. Travolta and Lopez soon dropped out.
Beloved soap Dallas is to be updated for the small screen after efforts to turn the project into a major movie failed.
John Travolta and Jennifer Lopez were both attached to the film project, but now the entire idea has been scrapped - and instead, Dallas will be heading back to TV.
Network bosses at America's TNT have reportedly warmed to the pilot episodes of the updated Dallas and there are now plans to air them for fans.
Executive producer Cynthia Cidre, who tasted success as the writer of acclaimed film The Mambo Kings, plans to bring back the Ewings of Southfork in the oil-rich saga of family scandal and betrayals.
Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal and Linda Gray starred in the original series. It is not known if any of the original cast will be returning for the revamp.
Patrick Duffy, who starred in the long-running primetime soap "Dallas," is making his studio feature debut in the comedy "You Again."
Jimmy Wolk also has come aboard the Disney feature, which is being directed by Andy Fickman.
The actors join Kristen Bell, Sigourney Weaver, Jamie Lee Curtis and Odette Yustman, among others, in a story that centers on a woman (Bell) who finds out that her brother is planning to marry the girl (Yustman) who made her high school years a living hell. She tries to convince him that his fiancee is not the nice girl she pretends to be.
Duffy will play a former high school crush of both Weaver and Curtis.
Despite gaining huge recognition in television thanks to his starring role in "Dallas," which aired from 1978 to 1991, Duffy never made the transition to movies. (One reason was that series at the time had much longer seasons, leaving less time for actors to take on film projects.) He starred in several TV movies, toplined the sitcom "Step by Step" with Suzanne Somers in the 1990s and recently has appeared in daytime serial "The Bold and the Beautiful."
Wolk is playing the brother about to get married. He has appeared in CBS/Hallmark Hall of Fame's "Front of the Class" and the Disney/ABC pilot "Solving Charlie."
Larry Hagman is a lock! TNT confirmed today that Larry Hagman will participate in the Dallas reboot that’s in the works at the cabler. Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray will also appear in the pilot that’s based on characters created by David Jacobs and executive produced by Cynthia Cidre (Cane).
