CBS Orders ‘Training Day’ Pilot with Antoine Fuqua Directing

CBS has ordered a pilot for Training Day, which picks up where the film left off 15 years ago.

In the orginal film, Washington, starred as a rogue street saavy narcotics detective with a foul mouth, and Ethan Hawke as his rookie cop partner.

This will be at least the 3rd cop movie with a black lead that CBS has considered turning into a weekly TV series – “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Rush Hour” are the other 2. However, before dismissing this one entirely, it does actually have quite a bit going for it. For starters, original director Antoine Fuqua will be taking the helm of the pilot, while Castle’s Will Becall will write it.

The project, which had a pilot production commitment, hails from Fuqua, writer Will Beall, Warner Bros. Washington won the Oscar for best actor for his role in “Training Day” in March 2002. According to Deadline, CBS’s version will also include a racial swap, where “an idealistic young African-American police officer is appointed to an elite squad of the LAPD where he is partnered with a seasoned, morally ambiguous Caucasian detective”.

Transforming cinematic properties into television shows has become a steady trend in Hollywood, with Training Day joining a list of films like Taken, The Exorcist, Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour, Behind Enemy Lines, Friday the 13th and The Notebook that are now being developed for the small screen.