CBS' "Training Day" (Season 1)

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‘Training Day’: Ethan Hawke’s Jake Hoyt May Return For TV Series Reboot

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.

‘Training Day’ Picked Up To Pilot By CBS With Antoine Fuqua Directing

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.