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Another high-profile reboot has landed a pilot order.
CBS on Friday handed out a pilot pickup to a reboot of S. W. A. T., The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The drama hails from exec producer Shawn Ryan and centers on a locally born and bred S. W. A. T. lieutenant who is torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he’s tasked to run a highly trained unit that is the last stop for solving crimes in Los Angeles.
The drama, which is written by Aaron Thomas ( The Get Down, Friday Night Lights ), is based on the 2003 feature film of the same name. The drama landed at CBS in September with a hefty pilot production commitment and a series penalty attached.
Thomas will also exec produce the drama alongside Ryan, Marney Hochman, Neal Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Danielle Woodrow and Justin Lin, with the latter also set to direct the pilot. Moritz directed the 2003 feature film, which starred Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez and LL Cool J. It grossed $207 million worldwide.
The drama is a co-production between Sony Pictures Television — where The Shield grad Ryan, Thomas and Moritz are under overall deals — as well as CBS Television Studios.
S. W. A. T. marks the latest reboot to score a formal pilot order this season. It joins The CW’s Dynasty , Fox’s similarly themed Behind Enemy Lines as well as NBC’s What About Barb.
Reboots continue to remain in high demand as broadcast, cable and streaming outlets look for proven IP in a bid to cut through a cluttered scripted landscape that is quickly approaching 500 original series. Key to the remakes is having the original producers involved in some capacity — which S. W. A. T. has with Moritz and Sony— as more studios look to monetize their existing film libraries.
Military dramas have become one of the hottest genres this pilot season as the broadcast networks continue to make a push to better appeal to Trump America. S. W. A. T. joins Behind Enemy Lines, The CW’s Valor , NBC’s For God and Country and CBS’ untitled Navy SEALs drama as well as ABC comedy Charlie Foxtrot. The pickups also arrive after History and USA Network had solid outings for Navy SEAL drama Six and its reboot of Shooter, respectively.
For CBS, this is the network’s eighth drama pilot order of the season (off one from last year).
Keep track of the latest news and castings at THR.com/PilotSeason and bookmark THR ‘s handy guide .
