There's some movement on The Prisoner remake; a project that gained momentum last year as a Sky/AMC co-production, but fell apart when the American cable network began making demands Sky weren't happy with. The remake is now in the hands of ITV/AMC, and seems to be progressing better...
The Prisoner fan-site Six Of One claim to have exclusive details of the new series:
Jim Caviezel (Passion Of The Christ) takes the role of Number Six.
Ian McKellen (Lord Of The Rings) will play Number Two.
Jon Jones (Cold Feet) will direct the 6-part series.
Filming begins in August, shooting in Namibia and South Africa.
The remake will be broadcast in 2009.
This information isn't official, but it has the ring of truth about it. My immediate thoughts are that Caviezel's an okay choice (was having an American lead a sticking point with Sky?), but will he play Number Six as an Englishman or American? Expect a backlash if Six is a Yank, folks!
Ian McKellen is absolutely perfect casting, and I assume they'll be using him in all 6 episodes, and ditching the original's idea of having different actors play new Number Two's. It would make sense -- as you don't waste McKellen with a one episode appearance, and who could better him?
Namibia and South Africa? Interesting. No mention of Portmeirion, but I hope they shoot something there as a link to the '60s show. Are they going to be building The Village as a massive set in Africa, or is the landscape itself going to be the new "prison"?
All very exciting. No word on CGI Rovers yet, though. Incidentally, apologies for dropping way behind with my Prisoner reviews of the ITV4 repeats. I don’t think I'm going to be able to get back up to speed any time soon, so sorry about that. What do you think about this remake news, though? Excited, disappointed, indifferent?
The Prisoner fan-site Six Of One claim to have exclusive details of the new series:
Jim Caviezel (Passion Of The Christ) takes the role of Number Six.
Ian McKellen (Lord Of The Rings) will play Number Two.
Jon Jones (Cold Feet) will direct the 6-part series.
Filming begins in August, shooting in Namibia and South Africa.
The remake will be broadcast in 2009.
This information isn't official, but it has the ring of truth about it. My immediate thoughts are that Caviezel's an okay choice (was having an American lead a sticking point with Sky?), but will he play Number Six as an Englishman or American? Expect a backlash if Six is a Yank, folks!
Ian McKellen is absolutely perfect casting, and I assume they'll be using him in all 6 episodes, and ditching the original's idea of having different actors play new Number Two's. It would make sense -- as you don't waste McKellen with a one episode appearance, and who could better him?
Namibia and South Africa? Interesting. No mention of Portmeirion, but I hope they shoot something there as a link to the '60s show. Are they going to be building The Village as a massive set in Africa, or is the landscape itself going to be the new "prison"?
All very exciting. No word on CGI Rovers yet, though. Incidentally, apologies for dropping way behind with my Prisoner reviews of the ITV4 repeats. I don’t think I'm going to be able to get back up to speed any time soon, so sorry about that. What do you think about this remake news, though? Excited, disappointed, indifferent?
