(l-r) Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins, Gaius Charles as Brian “Smash” Williams, Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor, Scott Porter as Jason Street, Minka Kelly as Lyla Garrity, Zach Gilford as Matt Saracen.Photo:Michael Muller/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Michael Muller/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Friday Night Lightsis making its return!
PEOPLE first learned in November that a reboot of the beloved drama was in the early stages with original showrunner and executive producer Jason Katims and writers Peter Berg (who directed the 2004 film) and Brian Grazer. However, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, NBC Universal announced that the series is currently in development at Universal Television and will stream on Peacock. Kristen Zolner will also join as executive producer for Imagine Entertainment.
The upcoming iteration, as PEOPLE previously learned, is slated to have a new cast.
Fans have hoped for a revival of the drama for years since it came to an end in 2011 after five seasons. The originalFriday Night Lightsfollowed football players and their coach — starring the likes ofTaylor Kitsch,Minka Kelly,Jesse Plemons,Michael B. Jordan,Zach Gilford, Aimee Teegarden,Connie BrittonandKyle Chandler— in a rural town in Texas as they navigated their lives on and off the field.
(l-r) Connie Britton as Tami Taylor, Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor.
In 2021, Connie Britton toldEntertainment Tonightshedidn’t think a reboot would ever happen, saying she didn’t see “us going back into those stories and those particular characters’ lives.”
“We’ll do a reunion for sure, like a cast reunion, [but] I don’t see them going back into that story, at least with this cast,” theWhite Lotusactress said at the time.
Britton did, however, admit that it would “be nice to see” where the characters ended up over a decade later.
Connie Britton.
Minka Kellyalso reflectedon the success of the show, which won multiple Emmy awards, on its 13th anniversary in 2019, sharing anInstagrampost about how the series changed her life.
“13 (wow) years ago tonight @pberg44 changed my life,” Kelly, 39, began. “I was living out of a suitcase in my girlfriends apartment when I got the call that I’d be moving to Austin,” explained Kelly. “I called the surgery center where I worked as a scrub nurse and told them I’d be leaving for some football show in Texas but I’ll see you guys again as soon as I’m back.”
“There was no way a show about football – that was already a movie – about a player who breaks his neck in the pilot episode is going anywhere,” she wrote. “But a job is a job amirite!”
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“But it wasn’t about football,” she wrote. “It was about relationships, family, humanity, love and loss. It was about longing to fit in and wanting to get out. It was about life in a small town and how a community comes together in good times and bad.”
Kelly concluded with theFriday Night Lightsslogan: “Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose. Texas Forever. 🤘🏼.”
Friday Night Lightsis streaming in full on Netflix.
source: people.com
