Variety reports that CBS has cast Jay Hernandez (Suicide Squad, Hostel, Friday Night Lights) in the title role for their reboot of Magnum P.I. The new version of the character is described quite similarly to the original version as “a decorated ex-Navy SEAL who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator.”
The new Magnum P.I. series comes from writer Peter Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim (executive producers and showrunners for the Hawaii Five-0 reboot), and will center around the four main characters from the original series. The character of Higgins (played in the original by John Hillerman) will be female. She will now be disavowed former MI:6 agent Juliet Higgins. Lenkov and Guggenheim will executive produce with Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox. CBS TV studios will co-produce with Universal TV. Justin Lin (Fast & Furious, Star Trek Beyond) is set to direct the pilot. Original star Tom Selleck has reportedly given his blessing, but will not be involved.
The original series, which ran from 1980 to 1988, starred Selleck, Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley and Larry Manetti, and centered on the laid-back former Navy SEAL as he runs a PI firm out of the guest house of a gorgeous Hawaiian beachfront estate owned by the reclusive author Robin Masters. Created by Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson, Magnum P.I. famously cost Selleck the role of Indiana Jones due to his series commitment, though it won him an Emmy in 1984 and made him an ’80s icon. ABC tried a sequel-style reboot of the show in 2016, which was produced by Eva Longoria and John Rogers (Leverage).
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