David Farnor | On 01, Sep 2017

James Gunn’s Starsky and Hutch reboot is heading to Amazon.

The series, which is co-produced with Sony Pictures TV, has been given a script-to-series commitment by Amazon Studios. Gunn will executive produce the project with his brother, Brian Gunn, with cousin Mark Gunn writing the script from an original idea by James. Neal Moritz and Pavun Shetty will also exec-produce, through their Sony-based Original Film banner.

“When I was a kid, Starsky & Hutch was the first ‘adult’ show I ever saw, and I fell in love,” James Gunn told Variety, who confirmed Amazon’s acquisition of the show. “It instilled in me a lifelong love of gritty street shows, of killer 70’s threads, and muscle cars. So when Neal Mortiz asked me if I wanted to be a part of an all new Starsky & Hutch on TV, I was instantly intrigued. I teamed up with the two writers I trusted most in the world to work with us, my brother Brian Gunn and my cousin Mark Gunn and together we came up with a show that I’m really proud of. At Amazon I believed we would have the most freedom to create something that is different, challenges the audience, and that strays outside the parameters of genre from time to time.”

“I also have quite a few filmmaker friends who have been working with Amazon lately,” he added on a Facebook post, “and what sets them apart from most of the other friends I have working in TV is that they love them.”

The project marks the first TV project from James Gunn and his company, Troll Court Entertainment. Gunn, of course, needbs no introduction, after leaping from indie films to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which has taken over $1.6 billion at the global box office.

The show needs no introduction either, with David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser becoming screen icons over their four seasons as the crime-fighting detective duo in their Ford Gran Torino. First created by William Blinn, it was then later adapted into a film starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in 2004.

The project continues an ongoing trend for rebooting franchises and series for the small screen, from CBS’ SWAT and The CW’s Dynasty to Netflix’s Lost in Space and ABC’s live-action Jetsons.

“Chekhov said if you have a gun in the room, it’s going to go off. We can’t wait to see what three Gunns do with Starsky & Hutch,” said Joe Lewis, head of comedy, drama, and VR for Amazon Studios.

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