Burton Part of Roots Reboot
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A remake of the Roots miniseries has been announced.
The reboot will air on the History Channel, A&E and Lifetime in 2016.
LeVar Burton, who starred in the original series as Kunta Kinte, will be one of the executive producers on the project.
Roots aired in 1977 and the miniseries was nominated for thirty-seven Emmy nominations, winning nine Emmys.
The reboot will “[incorporate] more material from Alex Haley’s novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” and will benefit from “carefully researched new scholarship of the time.”
“My career began with Roots and I am proud to be a part of this new adaptation,” said Burton. “There is a huge audience of contemporary young Americans who do not know the story of Roots or its importance. I believe now is the right time to tell this story so that we can all be reminded of its impact on our culture and identity.”
“Roots was a groundbreaking television milestone that has had an enduring effect on American culture,” said the History Channel‘s Dirk Hoogstra. “We are proud to bring this saga to fans of the original, as well as to a new generation that will experience this powerful and poignant tale for the first time.”
Roots will be written by Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Alison McDonald, and Charles Murray.
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Let`s hope that this does succeed-kudos to you, LeVar, for bringing this classic back to TV.
🙁 I’m very tired of all the damn unnecessary reboots!
Remakes have been a part of film and television since the ‘golden days’ of both (well, at least for film.) Please stop the nonsense about remakes, and learn some history about film.
🙁 I KNEW THAT! But they are getting too common!
Remakes have ALWAYS been common in the film industry, sir-that’s what I was trying to get across before. You must be thinking of the 60’s and 70’s when they (probably) weren’t, but in the 20’s, ’30’s, ’40’s, ’50’s, and ’60’s, they were prevalent, and nobody was making a big deal about them then like they do today . Would that people of the present be like people of the past in that regard.
This isn’t the same as another remake of The Texas Chansaw Massacre we’re talking about.
You are right, remake have always been part of Hollywood, however in the past there were decades usually inbetween the original film and the remake. Where once it might have been 20 years, these days it’s more like 10 or even 5. A single generation doesn’t even get to move on before it’s being given the same film again. In that past it would have been the children or grandchildren of the original audience that got the remake.
As for this particular mini-series, it has been a long time since the original. However I can understand the reluctance of original fans seeing it remade. Most times, even in the old days, remakes are not as good as the originals. I’m sorry, but Philadelphia Story is always going to be better than High Society!
Milo, please stop talking nonsense-there have been a few years between remakes and originals this time around, too; you just don’t like them, is all, or believe that they violate a sacred tenet in the ‘Church of Film’ somehow. Newsflash; they don’t, so get up off your high horse and stop being so offended about them. Don’t like them,don’t see them (and if at all possible, don’t comment about them, either.)
In the case of Roots, this is an adaptation of a novel anyway (and there have been several new TV movie/miniseries adaptations of novels going on recently-where’s the objection to those?) You can survive this.
Bullcaca on (and to) that, too.