Vin Diesel does not know the meaning of the word “vacation.” The action movie star, who just made Furious 7 and is about to be seen again in The Last Witch Hunter, is reportedly developing a movie based on the iconic TV series Kojak.
News of the project was first reported by Deadline, which notes that it is set up at Universal, which released Furious 7. Diesel will produce with Samantha Vincent of One Race Films and Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark of Bluegrass Films. Both companies are based at Universal.
Philip Gawthorne was picked to write a new draft of the screenplay, after Skyfall team Neal Purvis and Robert Wade penned the first draft. Gawthorne has mostly worked on TV in the U.K., writing for Eastenders, Casualty and Holby City. He’s currently working on Cube for Lionsgate.
The original Kojak ran from 1973-1978 and starred Telly Savalas as the title detective. The show was a Universal TV production and aired on CBS. There was actually a short-lived USA Network revival in 2005 that starred Ving Rhames in the title part.
Diesel will next be seen on the big screen on Oct. 23 in The Last Witch Hunter.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com