Antoine Fuqua is developing Training Day as a TV series; may direct pilot

Antoine Fuqua is revisiting one of his earliest hits as he begins development in bringing TRAINING DAY to the small screen. Partnering with super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Fuqua is shopping TRAINING DAY to the four major networks as a “neo-noir crime series”. Fuqua may direct the pilot episode for the series which is being scripted by GANGSTER SQUAD’s Will Beall.

Beall has experience as an LAPD detective which will lend some life experience to the adaptation of the 2001 feature which was written by David Ayer. It is unknown if the TRAINING DAY series will follow the same characters as the film but I would have to think there is no way to fill the shoes of Ethan Hawke‘s Oscar-nominated turn as Jake Hoyt and Denzel Washington‘s Oscar-winning portrayal of Alonzo Harris.

According to Deadline, the new series will be set fifteen years after the original film and focus on the relationship between two LAPD officers in 2015. In a twist, the roles may be reversed with the rookie being black and the corrupt detective being white. Not sure exactly why that is a twist or why it would matter if it was set 15 years after the original. But, that is Hollywood for you.

I would feel much more comfortable with this idea if Ayer was somehow involved as well. I would also feel much better if this was going to cable rather than a network as TRAINING DAY’s violence, language, and overall gritty tone is what made it work so well. Sanitizing it for network television doesn’t seem to be a good idea. But, I guess this is so early in the process, a lot could change. Stay tuned for more as it develops.