It's official -- "MacGyver," the '80s all-around handyman and rugged action star, will make a huge comeback in the small screen. Entertainment Weekly confirmed that CBS has picked up the show, with "Furious 7" director James Wan at the helm.
As previously reported, Wan has tried to revive "MacGyver" for sometime now. In 2009, New Line Cinema announced a movie based on the show, but plans did not push through and Wan went on to directing other projects such as "Insiduous," "Saw," and "Furious 7."
"I love the concept behind MacGyver, and I love the direction that we were going with it ... My initial concept was I wanted to do a young college MacGyver," Wan said in an interview with Crave Online earlier this year. "He's very crafty, he's very smart, all kinds of science and mathematics and engineering. I wanted to put my MacGyver story around something like a North by Northwest: He gets blamed for something that he had designed, something really big that's something everyone wanted, and now someone has weaponized it and everyone's coming after him."
According to CBS, the rebooted version of the show will still follow the director's initial concept. "A reimagining of the television series of the same name, following a 20-something MacGyver as he gets recruited into a clandestine organization where he uses his knack for solving problems in unconventional ways to help prevent disasters from happening," the official statement reads.
The original "MacGyver" series ran on ABC from 1985 to 1992. Richard Dean Anderson played the action hero who became known as the anti-thesis of James Bond. MacGyver was rough, down-to-earth, and didn't need fancy cars and gadgets. Instead, he relied on ordinary household items like duct tape, paper clips, wires, and Swiss army knives.
So far, no further details have been given as to who has been cast and when the target premiere date will be. But with a director on board, the ball is finally rolling. This is good news for fans who grew up watching the classic '80s hit show; and for the younger crowd, it's about time they met the swashbuckling, Swiss knife-wielding all-American hero.
As a refresher, watch the original opening and closing credits of the hit '80s show below:
