All right, this has nothing to do with comics — unless you count the 1988 DC Comics sequel or Jack Kirby’s unpublished adaptation — but I’m a big fan of the surreal ’60s TV series The Prisoner, so I’m blogging about it: Cable network AMC has announced that Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen will star in its six-part reinterpretation of the sci-fi classic.
If you’re unfamiliar with The Prisoner, it starred series creator Patrick McGoohan as an ex-British spy who’s held captive at a picturesque seaside village — called simply the Village — where he’s called Number Six and subjected to his captors’ attempts at brainwashing and interrogation. He repeatedly attempts to escape, but is often thwarted by the Village’s constant surveillance, and the menacing floating white ball dubbed the Rover.
The updated miniseries, a co-production from AMC, ITV Productions and Granada International, is set to debut in 2009. Caviezel will star as Number Six, while McKellen will play one of his captors, Number Two.
Modern “reintepretations” of older works tend to make me uneasy, particularly when, like The Prisoner, the original is so entrenched in the period (the Cold War, in particular). The update promises to address “21st Century concerns and anxieties, such as liberty, security, and surveillance, yet also showcase the same key elements of paranoia, tense action and socio-political commentary seen in McGoohan’s enigmatic original.”
That doesn’t alleviate my concerns, but the casting is terrific. And AMC’s first original series, Mad Men, is shaping up to be one of the best shows on TV.
June 30th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I have the same concerns. The people making this better have an *extremely* strong artistic vision. The original was so stylistic that it will be hard to overcome that. It was a great show and stands in people’s memories for a reason.
Not that the original show was perfect. The Wild West episode really felt like, “Hey, let’s do a Wild West episode.” I’m also pretty iffy on the ending, but from what I’ve read it was done in a rush.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
“Hey, let’s make this relevant to today” also seems iffy. Especially since there was so little within the original show that directly addressed the issues of the Cold War. It was about the place of the individual within the system, and that is as relevant a theme now as then and probably doesn’t need one bit of remake.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Re: the original being rooted in the cold war, it seems like the surveillance era would make a perfect backdrop for a remake or sequel. If anything, The Prisoner should have an easier transition than James Bond.
Assuming they do it right, of course.
June 30th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Ian McKellan? GREAT. Jim Caviezel? NOT GREAT. I don’t mean for this turn political, but Caviezel’s right-wing politics, and his support for a current administration that’s violated our civil liberties, would seem to fly in the face of what McGoohan was doing with his original masterpiece. He’s just wrong for this project. Not to mention that fact that he’s not British!
Last I’d heard, I thought this AMC project was dead. What happened to the feature film Chris Nolan was going to make after The Dark Knight? Now THAT’S something I could get excited for. I could really see Christian Bale, or perhaps Clive Owen, as No. 6. Either one would be a million times better than Caviezel. Put McKellan in the feature film, not this dicey TV remake.
June 30th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
BTW, for anyone out there who’s never seen The Prisoner… I highly recommend getting your hands on the DVDs (they’ve gone way down in price the past few years, or else get ‘em from Netflix) and checking it out. It’s a bit dated in parts, but it was also years ahead of its time. The show’s definitely had an influence on Lost (my favorite show ever), so it’s worth watching for that reason alone. That, and maybe that one really bizarre episode of The Simpsons will finally make sense to you.