Variety reports that Timothy Olyphant will once again play his iconic role of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in Justified: City Primeval, a limited series which follows Givens on a new case that takes him to Detroit in search of an escaped sociopath.
Justified premiered on FX in 2010 and ran for six seasons. The series, which was an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s short story ‘Fire in the Hole’, followed Olyphant’s Givens as he was reassigned back to his hometown of Harlan County where he continuously pursued notorious criminal Boyd Crowder, played by Walter Goggins, an old friend from his youth, among other criminals, drug gangs and crime families. The series was a hit with Olyphant earning much praise as well as an Emmy nomination for Best Actor while Goggins was also nominated several times for his portrayal of Crowder. Olyphant and Goggins’ chemistry as Givens and Crowder has been such a source of praise that we named them among the best arch-enemies of all time. Margo Martindale won an Emmy for her guest role in the series’ second season while Jeremy Davies won for his guest role in the third.
Justified: City Primeval will be based on Leonard’s book City Primeval and follows “Givens eight years after he left Kentucky behind. He now lives in Miami, a walking anachronism balancing his life as a U.S. Marshal and part-time father of a 14-year-old girl. His hair is grayer, his hat is dirtier, and the road in front of him is suddenly a lot shorter than the road behind. A chance encounter on a desolate Florida highway sends him to Detroit. There he crosses paths with Clement Mansell, aka The Oklahoma Wildman, a violent, sociopathic desperado who’s already slipped through the fingers of Detroit’s finest once and aims to do so again. Mansell’s lawyer, formidable Motor City native Carolyn Wilder, has every intention of representing her client, even as she finds herself caught in between cop and criminal, with her own game afoot as well.”
Justified: City Primeval will be showrun, written and executive produced by Dave Andron and Michael Dinner, the latter of whom will also direct. Olyphant will executive produce alongside Justified creator Graham Yost with Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly and Peter Leonard. Executive producers Taylor Elmore and Chris Provenzano will also write the series with Andron, Dinner, W.J. Boyd, Eisa Davis and Ingrid Escajeda. The new series will be produced by Sony Pictures Television and FX Productions with Walter Mosley hired as a consulting producer.
“Justified was one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the past decade and an adaption of Elmore Leonard’s work that was so colorfully brought to life by Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, Graham Yost and the entire team of producers, writers, directors and cast,” said Eric Schrier, president of FX Entertainment. “To have this group come together again with Tim as Raylan in a new and different Elmore Leonard story is thrilling. I want to thank our showrunners Dave and Michael, and their fellow executive producers Tim, Graham, Sarah and Carl, the Elmore Leonard estate as well as our partners at Sony Pictures Television, for making this possible.”
“When Justified concluded, the love and affection for this exceptional series only grew and left audiences craving more Raylan Givens,” said Sony Pictures Television co-presidents Jeff Frost and Jason Clodfelter. “The iconic Elmore Leonard was one of the premier authors of our time and no one has quite captured his tone and authenticity as well as this Justified team. We look forward to experiencing the magic again of Tim, Graham, Dave, Michael and our preeminent executive producer team. We are so thrilled to be continuing this remarkable ride with our partners at FX.”
Are you excited to see Olyphant back as Givens? Do you hope to see any other Justified characters return with him? Let us know on our social channels at @flickeringmyth…
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