Universal Pictures and Imagine chairman Brian Grazer acquired the rights to turn the long-running CBS drama "Magnum, P.I." into a feature film.
Grazer will team with series cocreator Donald Bellisario to produce the pic. They've hired scribe Michael McCullers, who with Mike Myers scripted the second and third installments of the "Austin Powers" trilogy. McCullers also adapted the classic kid book series "Curious George" for an upcoming Universal/Imagine animated film.
Bellisario, who hatched such series as "JAG" and "Quantum Leap," created "Magnum, P.I." with Glen Larson and set it on Oahu to take up the studio space that had been vacated by "Hawaii 5-0."
Tom Selleck became a star playing Thomas Magnum, a former Naval intelligence officer hired to head security at the estate of wealthy absentee owner Robin Masters. Magnum used the mansion as a base to work his own detective cases, employing the resources of the estate owner that included the signature red 308 GTS Ferrari. Magnum often clashed with estate caretaker Jonathan Higgins.
The series was edgy because of the attention paid to the character's tour of duty in Vietnam. The drama ran from 1980-88 on CBS.
Grazer lines up that project in what is one of his most prolific producing seasons. He produced the Coen Brothers pic "Intolerable Cruelty" starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones; the Mike Myers starrer "Cat in the Hat"; and the Tommy Lee Jones/Cate Blanchett starrer "The Missing," which was directed by Grazer's partner Ron Howard. Grazer also produced "The Alamo" with Mark Johnson. (As reported by VARIETY)
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