Training Day, CBS’ present-day reimagining of Antoine Fuqua’s acclaimed 2011 feature that starred Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, could become a true sequel, featuring the surviving main characters from the movie.
I have learned that Hawke has been approached to reprise his role as Jake Hoyt in the TV series, which hails from Fuqua, Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Bros. TV. It is unclear at the moment whether it would happen or not as talks are ongoing. If he does, it would be for a supporting/recurring role, though I hear there was an idea was for Hawke to potentially star in the series.
The film starred Washington as rogue narcotics detective Alonzo Harris and Hawke as his rookie cop partner Hoyt. The TV series adaptation, written by Will Beall and directed by Fuqua, is set 15 years later and centers on an idealistic young African-American police officer, Kyle, who is given an assignment by the Deputy Chief to go undercover with an elite squad of the LAPD and take down a morally ambiguous Caucasian detective, gaining the trust of the seasoned cop by becoming his new partner.
I’ve learned that there were two versions of the pilot script. In one, the corrupt older detective is Jake Hoyt. It was written to gauge Hawke’s interest in toplining the series. I hear that was not something Hawke — coming off an Oscar nomination for Boyhood — was interested in pursuing, so the alternative version of the script was greenlighted to pilot. In it, the rogue cop is a new character, Frank, while the Deputy Chief is Hoyt. (The pilot addresses the fate of Washington’s Alonzo, who was killed at the end of the movie.)
I hear Hawke has expressed interest in making occasional guest starring appearances similarly to the way Bradley Cooper is reprising his role from the Limitless movie in the CBS drama series between doing features. I hear the way the Deputy Chief character was conceived, it involves more regular presence on the show, so the two sides are currently far apart. But talks continue, and the role is still earmarked for Hawke. The casting breakdown sent out for the pilot features all other characters in the pilot, including Kyle and Frank, but not the Deputy Chief.
Hawke has a very strong relationship with Fuqua, who is behind the series reboot. (It was Fuqua’s idea to do the neo-noir crime thriller as a TV series.) Hawke earned the first of two acting Oscar nominations for Training Day and also did his only TV pilot to date with Fuqua, headlining the 2011 Fox drama Exit Strategy, which Fuqua directed (it didn’t go to series). Hawke also is starring in Fuqua’s next movie, The Magnificent Seven.
CBS has given a pilot order to Training Day, a drama series reimagining of Antoine Fuqua’s acclaimed 2001 feature that starred Denzel Washington as a rogue narcotics detective and Ethan Hawke as his rookie cop partner.
The project, which had a pilot production commitment, hails from Fuqua, writer Will Beall, Warner Bros. TV and studio-based Jerry Bruckheimer Television.
As we previously reported, the TV series project, set 15 years after the film left off, gives the dynamic of the characters from the movie a twist, with the rookie cop being black and the corrupt older cop being white. In the new Training Day, “an idealistic young African-American police officer is appointed to an elite squad of the LAPD where he is partnered with a seasoned, morally ambiguous Caucasian detective.”
It was Fuqua’s idea to do the neo-noir crime thriller as a TV series. He approached WBTV and also brought on board studio-based Jerry Bruckheimer TV and Beall. Fuqua is executive producing and is set to direct the pilot, written by Beall, who has feature (Gangster Squad), television (Castle) and police background as a former LAPD detective.
Buddy cop show has been high on CBS’ wish list. The network launched Battle Creek last season and has the upcoming Rush Hour, also a series adaptation of a popular movie title from WBTV. Training Day is not supposed to clash with Rush Hour — also centered on a diverse duo of cops — as the two shows have very different tones, an hourlong comedy (Rush Hour) and a gritty drama (Training Day).
Fuqua and Beall executive produce Training Day with Jerry Bruckheimer TV’s Jerry Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman for WBTV, Fuqua Films and Jerry Bruckheimer TV. KristieAnne Reed is co-executive producing.
The 2001 Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow movie was a critical and commercial hit, earning Oscar nominations for both Washington and Hawke, and a win for Washington.
Earlier this month, news surfaced that Ethan Hawke had been offered the opportunity to reprise his role as detective Jake Hoyt from the 2001 crime thriller Training Day for the TV series adaptation in the works at CBS. At one time, there was a hope that Hawke would take the lead role in the series as a more seasoned, now morally ambiguous version of his character, but the actor wasn’t interested in dedicating that much time to the TV series. But an alternate lead role has been filled.
Bill Paxton will take the role that is essentially a race-swapped version of the Denzel Washington character, the leader of an elite squad of LAPD officers. Just like the movie, Paxton is teamed up with a young, idealistic police officer, this time made to be played by an African-American actor who has yet to be cast. Find out more below.
THR reports Paxton will play Frank Rourke, a veteran LAPD cop who heads up the Special Investigation Section (SIS), a unit that goes after the worst of the worst. However, it doesn’t sound like his character is quite as corrupt as the Denzel Washington character from the movie since he’s described as living “by the law of the jungle and believes that real courage is the will to chase the bad guys where the law won’t.” Obviously he’s not to keen to deal with his new trainee who questions his actions at every turn.
Putting Paxton in the lead of the Training Day TV series cast actually piques my interest, even though having a home at CBS isn’t all that promising. But if there’s anyone who could make this recycled story interesting on TV, it’s Bill Paxton. The actor has had plenty of success on TV in the past with a lead role in Big Love and the limited series Hatfields & McCoys. More recently he had a recurring role on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and excellent supporting turns in Edge of Tomorrow and Nightcrawler.
There’s no word on whether or not Ethan Hawke may still be in the running to play the deputy chief in the series, a role that he was offered after he chose not to take the role that has gone to Paxton. Having Hawke around for an occasional appearance on the show would certainly add some weight to the proceedings, but the series has to stand on its own as well.
With a script by Gangster Squad scribe Will Beall and Antoine Fuqua executive producing with Jerry Bruckheimer, this could turn out to be good. At the same time, Danny Cannon, of the lackluster CSI and Gotham is also executive producing and directing the pilot, so this could go either way. Only time will tell.
TV upfronts are upon us, and that means some major shakeups in your weekly TV-watching schedule. So far there have been cancellations a’plenty with ABC and NBC, in particular, cleaning house to make room for their new lineups. Meanwhile, CBS finally pulled the plug on their CSI franchise by axing the last holdout, CSI: Cyber, and sent Supergirl packing to their sister network The CW. They also picked up a string of new shows, most notably the reboot/sequel series Training Day and MacGyver.
Based on Antoine Fuqua’s Oscar-winning film of the same name, Training Day is a sequel series that picks up 15 years after the events of the film, finding another wide-eyed young LAPD officer (Justin Cornwell) partnered with a morally questionable veteran (Bill Paxton). Fuqua returns as Executive Producer alongside Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Will Beall and Barry Shindel with Drew Van Acker, Katrina Law, Lex Scott Davis, and Julie Benz also set to star.
Here's the logline:
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A crime thriller that begins 15 years after the events of the feature film left, about an idealistic young police officer (Justin Cornwell) who is appointed to an elite squad of the LAPD where he is partnered with a seasoned, morally ambiguous detective (Bill Paxton).
Bill Paxton being cast as the co-lead and playing the evil cop should make this interesting.
I kind of like that they cast a newcomer to play the young cop.
But, I am curious if this is being developed as a dark character-driven show like Southland or if it will be a procedural drama. Maybe a little of both.
I was disappointed. Not that I should have had high expectations for a CBS crime drama, but it felt very lightweight compared to some far superior LA cop shows like Southland. and The Shield.
I like Paxton for the most part, but I thought his character Rourke, who is supposed to be the "bad guy" was written poorly. Some of his dialogue was idiotic.
On the plus side, it was shot and directed well by Danny Cannon.
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CBS' "Training Day" (Season 1)
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