Fox’s Urban Cowboy is moving full steam ahead.
The series remake of the 1980 John Travolta–Debra Winger movie of the same name has enlisted Jim Belushi, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Fueled with energetic music, the Fox drama follows Kyle (Alfonso Herrera, Sens8) and Gaby, two star-crossed young lovers, as they pursue their dreams and passions through the sweat of line-dancing in honky-tonks, the grime of the oil refineries and the glamour of modern Texas. It’s about family legacies, starting over, finding true love and the American dream.
Belushi will play Marshall, a spirited long-haul truck driver turned honky-tonk bar owner. He is as much of a Houston institution as his bar, Gilley’s.
Popular Mexican singer-actor Herrera will take over the leading role played by Travolta. In Fox’s reboot, Kyle is a popular rodeo circuit rider who is a puppet for the drug cartel and is forced to flee Mexico after messing with the wrong people.
Hustle & Flow‘s Craig Brewer — who wrote and directed the 2011 Footloose remake — is attached to write, direct and executive produce the drama, which has received a pilot order from the network. Robert Evans, who produced the original feature, and HBO alum Sue Naegle also will executive produce the co-production between Paramount TV and 20th Century Fox Television. James Sikura will oversee for the Robert Evans Co. and co-executive produce. Chris Levinson also is attached to executive produce.
Belushi’s credits include According to Jim, HBO’s Show Me a Hero mini and The Defenders.
