The one-armed man must be back on the loose, because The Fugitive is getting another remake. Only this time around, the franchise is heading back to its TV roots.
The Fugitive originated as a 1960s TV show where Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) is wrongfully accused of his wife’s murder. After escaping from a derailed prison transport train, Kimble then sets out to find her real killer — a one-armed man — while being doggedly pursued by Police Lieutenant Gerard (Barry Morse). The show was a hit and ran for four seasons and later inspired the 1993 blockbuster film of the same name. Harrison Ford portrayed Kimble in the wildly successful movie version, with Tommy Lee Jones in the role of Gerard. There was also a short-lived 2000 reboot of the TV series, but the less said about that, the better.
The new series, by contrast, appears to be a reboot in name only. Gone are Kimble, Gerard, and the one-armed man. In their place is a storyline involving a man named Mike Ferro (The Predator‘s Boyd Holbrook) who is wrongfully accused, via social media, of planting a bomb on a subway train. He then sets out to find the real perpetrator, while Kiefer Sutherland plays the cop who pursues him. Stephen Hopkins, who was a producer on Sutherland’s 24, is executive producing the show, so we should expect some major Jack Bauer vibes from Sutherland’s character.
The Fugitive reboot is further distinguishing itself from its predecessors by airing on Quibi, an upcoming streaming network where all episodes run only 7 to 15 minutes in length. Apparently, that’s what the kids are into these days. Quibi launches on April 6, but it’s unclear if The Fugitive will be available when it does.
