Paramount Plus Developing ‘Urban Cowboy’ TV Series; Justin Simien to Helm ‘Flashdance’ Reboot
variety.comJennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Plus revealed Tuesday it is moving forward on developing TV series remakes of classic ’80s movies “Urban Cowboy” and “Flashdance,” bringing on “Dear White People” creator Justin Simien to write and direct the latter project.Additionally, the ViacomCBS-owned streamer said during its virtual session at the Television Critics Association press tour it has put a docu-comedy series from “Mr.
Show” duo Bob Odenkirk and David Cross in the works.The “Urban Cowboy” project comes after Paramount Television Studios first set up development on a TV series based on the film of the same name at Fox in 2015, which was later scrapped.
The Paramount Plus version of the show, based on the John Travolta-Debra Winger movie, goes deeper into Bud’s journey from farm to the big city in 1980s Houston and will feature iconic music from that era.
James Pondsolt is directing and co-writing with Benjamin Percy. Meanwhile, Simien has come aboard the “Flashdance” TV series reboot — which has been in the early stages of development at Paramount Plus since October 2020, when it was still known as CBS All Access.
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