Judging from this past weekend's box office take for “The Watch,” it seems audiences have finally grown cool on Vince Vaughn's plateaued role choices, and perhaps so has the actor as well. Though he's currently shooting another comedy with Owen Wilson this summer with “The Internship,” Vaughn has been eager to flex his action-adventure muscles, attaching himself to movies like “The Risk Agent” for Universal and "Gunslingers" penned by Randall Wallace. In his spare time though, he's also turned to producing for TV, and in a unexpected move has set his eyes on rebooting one of the '70s most popular sitcoms in the process.
Through his own production company, Vaughn has announced he will develop and executive produce an updated version of “The Brady Bunch” for CBS, who recently placed a script order for Mike Mariano (“Raising Hope,” “My Name Is Earl”) to write. For the next-generation show, the plot will center on a grown-up Bobby Brady, divorced with children himself, deciding to marry and raise a child with another woman who also has kids. As their ex-spouses both still play a crucial part in their lives, the couple tries to navigate the winding maze of contemporary family dynamics that only a wacky modern-day setting could produce.
For those who only vaguely remember a Marsha and possibly a maid character too, the original series centered on Mike Brady (Robert Reed) and Carol Ann Martin (Florence Henderson), who together attempted to raise three sons and daughters as best they could. The show has subsequently produced a dizzying amount of retreads already, from reunion specials, musicals, a short-lived '90s series entitled “The Bradys,” and of course the parody films that managed to sneak in some clever jokes amidst an otherwise mediocre narrative.
It's unknown at this point if Vaughn will stay behind-the-scenes for his project, or possibly take one of the lead roles (which remain uncast), but all the same it definitely represents a left-turn move for the actor, one that mirrors Bryan Singer's decision to put together a “Munsters” reboot for NBC. At least he'll be in stellar company as the two navigate exactly how to translate their risky propositions to the small screen, and perhaps Vaughn's effort will join CBS' reboot of “Hawaii Five-0” it its surprising longevity. [Deadline]
