Twenty years after its release in theaters, the Sean Connery movie Finding Forrester is the next classic title to get a reboot. Deadline reports that NBC is working on a TV series adaptation of the 2000 movie, which starred Connery in one of his final acting roles. The project comes from The Chi co-executive producers TJ Brady and Rasheed Newson, director Tim Story, and NBA player Stephen Curry through his Unaimous Media banner alongside Sony Pictures Television.
Written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant, Finding Forrester followed a black teenager named Jamal (Rob Brown) as he attends a private high school. Upon striking up a friendship with reclusive writer William Forrester (Connery), Jamal comes to discover his own passion for writing along with coming to terms with his identity. Along with Brown and Connery, the movie also starred Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham, Busta Rhymes, and Charles Bernstein. Given two thumbs up from Ebert and Roeper, the movie was a hit upon its release.
Brady and Newson are penning the TV series reboot with Story on board to direct. The small screen adaptation will include some big changes to how Sean Connery‘s mentor character is portrayed, which includes a gender swap. Per deadline, the series will examine “the cost of success and the price of redemption through the unique bond between two gifted black writers: A homeless 16-year-old orphan who leverages his basketball skills to hustle his way into an ultra-competitive elite boarding school, and the other a reclusive lesbian author whose career was ruined by a public scandal.”
After helming the Shaft reboot and the Ride Along movies, Story’s next big project is set to release in theaters in 2021. He directs the upcoming Tom & Jerry movie reboot written by Kevin Costello, bringing the classic animated cat and mouse into the real world. He is also in the process of developing a third Ride Along movie. Meanwhile, Brady and Newson are also known for working on titles like Shooter and The 100 in addition to the acclaimed series The Chi.
Word of the Finding Forrester reboot comes very soon after Connery passed away. Just last month, Sean Connery died at the age of 90 years old, leaving fans across the world in mourning. He had been retired for many years at the time of his death, with 2003’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen serving as his final performance in a live-action movie. Coming out three years earlier, Finding Forrester is Connery’s penultimate live-action performance as the veteran actor was preparing for the end of his acting career.
Brady and Newson will also executive produce alongside Curry and Erick under Unanimous Media. Story and Shala Sumpter Bridgett for The Story Co. will also exec produce. The Finding Forrester reboot comes as part of an overall movie and television deal Curry had signed with Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2018. It’s not yet clear when production will begin or when the series might premiere on NBC. Casting information has yet to be announced. This news was first reported by Deadline.
