# Vince Vaughn to Open The Rockford Files



## cj9788 (May 14, 2003)

_"Is the third time the charm for The Rockford Files? NBC tried to remake the classic James Garner detective series back in 2010 with Dermot Mulroney as the lead, and when that version of the pilot underwhelmed, the network tried again to lure a name like Josh Holloway (to no avail). Now Universal is hoping for better luck on the big screen, as they've attached Vince Vaughn to star in a Rockford Files movie that just picked up writing pair David Levien and Brian Koppelman. Do you think it will come out at the same time as Robert Downey Jr.'s Perry Mason?"

http://www.vulture.com/2012/04/vince-vaughn-to-open-the-rockford-files.html
_


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

"cj9788" said:


> "Is the third time the charm for The Rockford Files? NBC tried to remake the classic James Garner detective series back in 2010 with Dermot Mulroney as the lead, and when that version of the pilot underwhelmed, the network tried again to lure a name like Josh Holloway (to no avail). Now Universal is hoping for better luck on the big screen, as they've attached Vince Vaughn to star in a Rockford Files movie that just picked up writing pair David Levien and Brian Koppelman. Do you think it will come out at the same time as Robert Downey Jr.'s Perry Mason?"
> 
> http://www.vulture.com/2012/04/vince-vaughn-to-open-the-rockford-files.html


I love James Garner. I can't stand VV...

Count me out...

~Alan


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Sometimes it's well to leave a past fictitious name in the past. Who is it that remembers the original Rockford or Mason shows with fondness that's going to be enthused about seeing Vaughn play Garner's part or Downey play Burr's part? So why not give the characters new names? The scripts are going to be entirely new anyway. I don't get it.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

phrelin said:


> Sometimes it's well to leave a past fictitious name in the past.


I agree ... while there is some value in giving credit to the past much of that benefit is lost when the remake cannot live up to the memory of the original. Have a story about an ex-con detective that works cases the police have forgotten about out of his home/office trailer by the beach. Older viewers (or those watching in syndication) might recognize the character as a ripoff of Jim Rockford ... but put that name on the character and it better be a good movie.

Some remake/rehash shows have turned out better than expected. Mission Impossible was a decent movie that has spawned sequels. Hawaii Five-O manages to do well on TV (although I cannot imaging using the premise for the show without the title - the main characters are modern versions).

Personally I like what Star Trek did with "The Next Generation" - not trying to recast the 60's show but using it as a springboard where they eventually had several overlapping series that all tied together as one. Unfortunately the latest Star Trek was a rewrite/reimagining of the original story that breaks that cannon sigificantly ... which is a pattern that has been followed with the Batman and Superman series as well. Forget everything you know, we are going to retell the story with different facts.

I don't see the point with Rockford. A similar character is an easy creation and Vince Vaughn is no James Garner. Vince has been in too many crappy movies to play Rockford as anything less than a farce.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

phrelin said:


> Sometimes it's well to leave a past fictitious name in the past. Who is it that remembers the original Rockford or Mason shows with fondness that's going to be enthused about seeing Vaughn play Garner's part or Downey play Burr's part? So why not give the characters new names? The scripts are going to be entirely new anyway. I don't get it.


I totally agree. Unfortunately Hollywood loves franchising.


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

MysteryMan said:


> I totally agree. Unfortunately Hollywood loves franchising.


It's because they can't think of any new ideas :nono:


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

Alan Gordon said:


> I love James Garner. I can't stand VV...
> 
> Count me out...
> 
> ~Alan


Agreed!

At least they could have the courtesy and wait until James Garner was dead before raping The Rockford Files


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## Charise (Jan 25, 2004)

Alan Gordon said:


> I love James Garner. I can't stand VV...
> 
> Count me out...
> 
> ~Alan


And another who won't be watching VV (in anything)...


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

Alan Gordon said:


> I love James Garner. I can't stand VV...
> 
> Count me out...
> 
> ~Alan


Same here.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

I could buy off on VV being Jim Rockford's son and Jim and Rocky reversing roles as the father. But James Garner is Jim Rockford.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

armophob said:


> I could buy off on VV being Jim Rockford's son and Jim and Rocky reversing roles as the father.


That would require some creative thinking. Hollywood stopped hiring writers with that ability decades ago.


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## jbail51 (Mar 14, 2010)

alan gordon said:


> i love james garner. I can't stand vv...
> 
> Count me out...
> 
> ~alan


amen on that, vv is so not funny....


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## jbail51 (Mar 14, 2010)

vv NOT FUNNY


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## mreposter (Jul 29, 2006)

I'm not sure Rockford will work as well in a feature film format. 90-120 minutes just isn't enough time to explain the interesting back story of the character. it's probably going to end up just a bunch of mindless car chases and shot outs and VV will substitute wisecracks for character development.

Off topic, but whatever happened to the CBS reboot of the Riffleman? I thought that was going to show up this spring/summer???


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## cj9788 (May 14, 2003)

I have always wondered how much better an investigator Jim would have been had he all the toys available today. He was at the fore front with the answer machine and I think he would have loved having a cell phone. 

I want to lnow who is gonna play Angle and LT. Becker. Will they have Rocky and will he still live in a trailer on the beach?

I am not happy with VV but I will see it just to see what they do with the character.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

cj9788 said:


> I have always wondered how much better an investigator Jim would have been had he all the toys available today. He was at the fore front with the answer machine and I think he would have loved having a cell phone.
> 
> I want to lnow who is gonna play Angle and LT. Becker. Will they have Rocky and will he still live in a trailer on the beach?
> 
> I am not happy with VV but I will see it just to see what they do with the character.


Knowing today's Hollywood, Angel will some super gorgeous lady who Jim rescued from being a a strung out prostitute. Lt. Becker will be some goof ball who should not be allowed to carry gun (let alone be on the force) and Rocky will be an illegitimate child of a different race who Jim never knew existed. 
Jim will also probably live either on a house boat or some dump in the hood.

No more firebird either for Jim as he will end updriving around in either a Prius,a Hyundai, or the lemon which looks like it came right out of 'Uncle Buck'


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

fluffybear said:


> No more firebird either for Jim as he will end updriving around in either a Prius,a Hyundai, or the lemon which looks like it came right out of 'Uncle Buck'


Maybe they will dig up KITT.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

fluffybear said:


> No more firebird either for Jim as he will end updriving around in either a Prius,a Hyundai, or the lemon which looks like it came right out of 'Uncle Buck'


An interesting contrast in choices!

I expect the car chosen will be based on sponsorship. Yes, I've noticed how many Chevys are on Hawaii-Five-O and the prominent shots of the vehicles and their logos whenever seen. Sometimes it seems I'm watching a long form car advertisement instead of a cops and robbers chase scene. Product placements have become blatant to the point of changing the script. Subway's marketing attempts on Chuck and Hawaii-Five-O have not gone unnoticed.

My bet would be the car will be a re-release. An old car where the looks are lot like the new ones ... but you can bet whatever car "Rockford" drives it will be parked next to some shiny ones with prominent brand tags as part of product placement.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

If you had to pick a better new Jim Rockford than VV, who who it be?
Liev Schreiber?


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

armophob said:


> If you had to pick a better new Jim Rockford than VV, who who it be?
> Liev Schreiber?


Better than VV? That list would be endless.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

RunnerFL said:


> Better than VV? That list would be endless.


That is a good answer. When I first read the question I was wondering who I would cast - someone with the gravitas of Garner. But the question is simpler if one thinks "better than VV". 

I would not pick any comedian for the role.


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## mreposter (Jul 29, 2006)

I was looking over James Garner's IMDB profile (trying to remember the other big series he did, Maverick) and noticed that apparently he did a series of Rockford TV movies in the mid-90s. I don't remember those at all, does anyone else?

James Garner IMDB


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## cj9788 (May 14, 2003)

mreposter said:


> I was looking over James Garner's IMDB profile (trying to remember the other big series he did, Maverick) and noticed that apparently he did a series of Rockford TV movies in the mid-90s. I don't remember those at all, does anyone else?
> 
> James Garner IMDB


They did a couple I remember watching them. The also did many TV movies for Colombo.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

mreposter said:


> I was looking over James Garner's IMDB profile (trying to remember the other big series he did, Maverick) and noticed that apparently he did a series of Rockford TV movies in the mid-90s. I don't remember those at all, does anyone else?
> 
> James Garner IMDB





cj9788 said:


> They did a couple I remember watching them. The also did many TV movies for Colombo.


If I remember correctly, he did something like 6 or 7 of them for CBS. I always got a chuckle out of that his series ran on NBC but the TV movies were on CBS.
I remember reading an article in the late 90's (98 or 99) that Garner was kind of upset that CBS did not order any more TV movies even though the ratings were spectacular.


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## jeffshoaf (Jun 17, 2006)

While trying to think of a suitable actor to play Jim Rockford, I surprised myself by thinking of Adam Baldwin, playing somewhere between his roles in Firefly and Chuck - without the gun fetish of course, and with a bit more subtle intelligence.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

jeffshoaf said:


> While trying to think of a suitable actor to play Jim Rockford, I surprised myself by thinking of Adam Baldwin, playing somewhere between his roles in Firefly and Chuck - without the gun fetish of course, and with a bit more subtle intelligence.


Adam Baldwin would be a good choice but I'm thinking someone more like Jason O'Mara.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

jeffshoaf said:


> While trying to think of a suitable actor to play Jim Rockford, I surprised myself by thinking of Adam Baldwin, playing somewhere between his roles in Firefly and Chuck - without the gun fetish of course, and with a bit more subtle intelligence.





RunnerFL said:


> Adam Baldwin would be a good choice but I'm thinking someone more like Jason O'Mara.


It was James Garner who made the Jim Rockford character a classic. Everyone else will make mold the character their own way but it will never be anywhere close to being the same as what James Garner did for the role.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

Alan Gordon said:
 

> I love James Garner. I can't stand VV...
> 
> Count me out...
> 
> ~Alan


The Rockford Files is a classic, why mess with. Also it's on HULU.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

fluffybear said:


> It was James Garner who made the Jim Rockford character a classic. Everyone else will make mold the character their own way but it will never be anywhere close to being the same as what James Garner did for the role.


Agreed


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## bobukcat (Dec 20, 2005)

jeffshoaf said:


> While trying to think of a suitable actor to play Jim Rockford, I surprised myself by thinking of Adam Baldwin, playing somewhere between his roles in Firefly and Chuck - without the gun fetish of course, and with a bit more subtle intelligence.


I'm not a fan of remakes as a general rule but if they are going to make this one I like your choice of Adam Baldwin. Certainly a better choice than VV but I'm also not sure he has the "Star Power" to carry a movie. If it were a TV show he'd make more sense but he's still a character actor with little / no experience as the lead.

Regardless of who they choose I hope they don't ruin the character by making him so conflict seeking bad-ass. Jim could hold his own but was never afraid to err to the side of self preservation over conflict, even if someone thought he was acting cowardly in the process.

As for car chases, if it's set in L.A. like the original any car chase at all is pretty unrealistic based on the amount of traffic that is on the road in the modern world!


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## Red Orc (Oct 11, 2011)

Alan Gordon said:


> I love James Garner. I can't stand VV...
> 
> Count me out...
> 
> ~Alan


Count me out too. NOT interested.


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## Red Orc (Oct 11, 2011)

Alan Gordon said:


> I love James Garner. I can't stand VV...
> 
> Count me out...
> 
> ~Alan


Have you ever seen My Fellow Americans?
James Garner & Jack Lemmon playing ex presidents running from an assasin.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117119/


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Red Orc said:


> Have you ever seen My Fellow Americans?
> James Garner & Jack Lemmon playing ex presidents running from an assasin.


A decent movie ... and even though it was a comedy not to the sick level of a VV film.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

I just did a Biography on VV and I have watched maybe 5 of all on the list. I agree he could never pull off Jim Rockford, but I really don't remember him tanking the movies I saw him in. I mean Dodge ball was one of my top 25 of all time.


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## jeffshoaf (Jun 17, 2006)

armophob said:


> I just did a Biography on VV and I have watched maybe 5 of all on the list. I agree he could never pull off Jim Rockford, but I really don't remember him tanking the movies I saw him in. I mean Dodge ball was one of my top 25 of all time.


VV always seems to be playing the same character to me - basically the slightly off side-kick who doesn't know when to shut up. Entertaining in small doses, but irritating in larger doses.

I didn't see the newer version of Psycho that he starred in tho - that "same character" definitely wouldn't fit that role!


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## ghontz1 (Mar 25, 2010)

oldschoolecw said:


> It's because they can't think of any new ideas :nono:


That's exactly the problem the new generation of Hollywood and all of their people, have not the talent to make their own stories they just rip off other peoples stuff.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

The reason is a long time ago Lee Iacocca came up with an easy way to ensure revenue. Find out what the baby boomers are doing and then capitalize on it. No one should be surprised at the "return" of the muscle cars that were iconic, or anything else that is nostalgic to that generation.


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