‘The A-Team’ Getting A Fox TV Reboot?
From the archive: published Sep 26, 2015, 11 years ago. Details may have changed since.
With the theme song still familiar to almost anyone who watched ’80s television and a heavily delayed 2010 film adaptation still lingering in the memory, The A-Team is about to get another reboot in the form of a Fox TV show.
According to Deadline , Fox are developing a modern take on the gang of vigilante mercenaries. Chris Morgan, the producer of Fast & Furious, is set to helm the series, with Albert Kim (Sleepy Hollow ) writing the pilot script. Director Tawnia McKiernan, the daughter of A-Team creator Stephen J. Cannell, is also attached to the project.
This time around, the characters will be former Special Forces soldiers — both male and female — who attempt to hunt down the black ops scoundrels who framed them for a crime they didn’t commit. According to sources, this will be the arching storyline for the entire series, which will maintain a weekly mission format like its ’80s predecessor. Casting is yet to be confirmed.
The 20th Century Fox film adaptation, which spent years in development and starred Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Rampage Jackson, and Sharlto Copley as John “Hannibal Smith, Templeton “Faceman” Peck, B.A. (Bad Attitude) Baracus, and H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock, respectively, was released in 2010 to mixed reviews. The film underperformed at the box office, bringing in $177.2 million on a $110 million budget.
Where no sequels have materialised, possibly due to the lukewarm box office performance (as confirmed by Cinema Blend ), the TV show may be Fox’s answer to a continuation of the franchise. TV is a hot commodity right now, with streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, and studios like Fox, attracting huge movie stars to TV projects — Kevin Bacon in The Following and Kevin Spacey in House of Cards are a few prime examples.
The A-Team originally aired on NBC from 1983 to 1987 and was one of many TV shows that become iconic throughout the decade. Alongside the likes of Knightrider and Airwolf, The A-Team included iconic catchphrases, a ridiculously addictive theme song, the instantly iconic GMC black van with red trim, and over-the-top characters. It made a star out of Mr. T and ran for 98 episodes across five seasons.
The story of our original A-Team members provided hours of addictive television. If Fox can capture the fun, humour, the silliness, and seriousness of the original, and find the right thespians to portray the heroes of the title, they could be onto a huge hit. In a world dominated by remakes, reimaginings, and reboots, fans will be dubious about a new version of their classic favourite — only time will tell if the A-Team will return.
Until then, here is the infamous opening sequence from the original. Enjoy!