Reboot of 'Varsity Blues' Ordered As Series at Quibi

Reboots, reunions, sequels have always been the perfect recipe for fan service, haven't they? However, what would usually go wrong with such presentations is the risk of ruining the original classic. Well, we will have to see if that will also be the case of Varsity Blues because the West Canaan Coyotes are set to be live again.

The 1999 high school football movie is getting made into a series at Quibi. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series comes from writer Tripper Clancy (Stuber) and Paramount Television (Paramount Pictures produced the film). Like the movie, the Quibi show will follow members of a high school football team and their battles with a demanding coach.

Two of the movie's producers, Mike Tollin and Tova Laiter, will executive produce the series along with John Gatins and Peter Guber. Tollin and Guber's MSM produces with Paramount TV. Anne Fletcher (The Proposal, This Is Us) directs, and Maia Glickman will oversee the project for MSM.

Quibi put the project in development in July as it was ramping up its acquisitions ahead of a planned April 2020 launch. At the time Tollin said, "For all those who cheered Mox's refrain, 'I don't want your life,' as well as all those who never heard of the West Canaan Coyotes, we're thrilled to bring Varsity Blues to Quibi and into the 21st century."

The 1999 movie starred James Van Der Beek as Jonathon "Mox" Moxon, the backup quarterback for West Canaan who's elevated to QB1 following an injury to the team's starter, Lance Harbor (Paul Walker). Mox clashes with the team's authoritarian coach (Jon Voight), who forces players to play through potentially serious injuries.

The Quibi series marks the second try at an adaptation of Varsity Blues. CMT was developing a show with the film's writer, W. Peter Iliff, in 2016, but it didn't move forward as the network pulled back from scripted series.