Studio New Line confirms Scott Zabielski is to take charge of the 8th instalment of the love-it-or-hate-it rookie cops franchise
You might think that seven Police Academy films were more than enough, but somebody in Hollywood disagrees with you. Studio New Line has hired first-time director Scott Zabielski, a part-time reserve police officer in west Hollywood, to take charge of a new film which will aim to reboot the long-running and much-maligned comedy series.
There has been speculation for some time that a new Police Academy film – the first since 1994's ill-fated Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow – was in the works. The series made a total of $242m at the worldwide box office and also spawned two TV series. Original producer Paul Maslansky, who is on board for the new iteration, said in 2010 that he hoped to return the series to the big screen with an entirely new cast.
"It's going to be very worthwhile to the people who remember it and to those who saw it on TV," Maslansky told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's going to be a new class. We hope to discover new talent and season it with great comedians. It'll be anything but another movie with a numeral next to it. And we'll most probably retain the wonderful musical theme."
The first Police Academy landed in 1984 and marked one of 80s icon Steve Guttenberg's first major roles as petty criminal-turned-police cadet Carey Mahoney. Its storyline was founded on the premise that a newly elected mayor of an unnamed US city had announced a policy requiring the police department to accept all willing recruits, leading to the induction of an array of colourful misfits.
Guttenberg has said in the past that he would like to return for a new Police Academy film. The first film in the series also starred Kim Cattrall, later of Sex and the City, as well as Bubba Smith as gentle giant cadet Moses Hightower and David Graf as military obsessed cadet Eugene Tackleberry. Smith, who was 6ft 7in tall, went on to appear in five more Police Academy films, and died in August from acute drug intoxication and heart disease at the age of 66, while Graf (who appeared in all seven films) died of a heart attack in 2001 while attending a family wedding.
Zabielski has directed episodes of Comedy Central TV show Tosh.0. The screenplay for the new Police Academy film is being written by David Diamond and David Weissman (When in Rome).
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jan/10/officer-to-direct-police-academy-reboot
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