The Saint Reboot In The Works At Paramount
Vintage spy franchise ‘The Saint’ looks set to be revived by Paramount Pictures.
Deadline report that the studio has just purchased the rights to the book series by Leslie Charteris, about the debonair secret agent Simon Templar.
The property is probably best known for the 1960s TV series, which starred a pre-Bond Roger Moore in the lead role. (Moore once suggested that Templar would lose against Bond in a fight.)
However, Charteris wrote or co-wrote over 100 ‘The Saint’ stories between 1928 and 1983, ranging from short stories to full-length novels.
The character also featured in radio dramas, comics, stage plays, and sixteen movies - the most recent being the last Hollywood take on the franchise in 1997, which starred Val Kilmer and Elizabeth Shue.
Though 1997′s ‘The Saint’ (also a Paramount production) is generally remembered as a critical and commercial flop, it actually performed fairly well on release, earning almost $170 million worldwide.
However, the 1997 movie failed to launch a franchise - and Deadline suggest this is very much the plan at Paramount this time around.
No potential directors, writers or casting have yet been revealed, but it is expected that veteran producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Robert Evans will be on board.
Picture Credit: ITC, Paramount
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