According to Deadline, ABC is developing a sequel series to the 1980’s CBS classic Magnum P.I., which starred Tom Selleck as the title Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV. Titled Magnum, the sequel/reboot shot will revolve around his daughter Lily “Tommy” Magnum as she travels to the aloha state to take charge of her dad’s detective agency. There will also be a parallel mystery surrounding unravel the failed spy operation that ended her a career in Navy Intelligence.
Leverage creator John Rogers will write the script and produce for Eva Longoria and Ben Spector’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment. The Lily character was not created out of whole cloth, as the child was introduced in four episodes of the original series, and it is implied in the finale that Thomas takes custody of her.
“We knew no one could replace the iconic role of Thomas Magnum, so John decided to make the reboot a sequel and continue the adventure of a Magnum — his daughter, who was established in the original series,” Longoria and Spector stated.
The original series, which ran from 1980 to 1988, co-starred John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley and Larry Manetti, and centered on the laid back former Navy SEAL as he runs a PI firm out of the guest house of a gorgeous Hawaiian beachfront estate owned by the reclusive author Robin Masters. Created by Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, Magnum P.I. famously cost Selleck the role of Indiana Jones due to his series commitment, though it won him an Emmy in 1984 and made him an ’80s icon.
Universal was developing a film version of Magnum P.I. around 2008 with writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball, Central Intelligence), and were courting Matthew McConaughey for the lead. The action movie take on the character is still a dream project for Thurber, who was still talking it up in interviews this summer.
Who would you like to see play the new Magnum, P.I.? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
