'Friday Night Lights' Reboot in the Works
©NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection
Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Reboot
A new iteration of Friday Night Lights is in development at Universal Television, Variety has confirmed with sources. Series showrunner Jason Katims is set to return, along with executive producer Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment, with Kristen Zolner of Imagine also onboard as an executive producer.
The reboot will feature a fresh story and new characters within the world of high school football, meaning that original cast members like Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Gaius Charles, and Jesse Plemons are not expected to reprise their roles. Though the project is still in its early stages, it is already being shopped around Hollywood.
Universal Television declined to comment on the project.
The original Friday Night Lights series aired for five seasons, from 2006 to 2011, first on NBC and later on AT&T's The 101 Network. It was inspired by H.G. Bissinger’s 1990 book of the same name, which was previously adapted by Peter Berg into a 2004 film starring Billy Bob Thornton.
The show followed Coach Eric Taylor (played by Kyle Chandler) and the high school football team in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas. It also featured a cast including Connie Britton, Minka Kelly, Zach Gilford, Michael B. Jordan, and Jurnee Smollett, among others. The series was produced by Universal Television, Imagine Television, and Film 44.
Speculation about a reboot has circulated since the show went off the air, but cast members like Connie Britton have previously dismissed the idea. In 2019, Britton commented on the possibility of a reboot, saying, “You need to let it go.” More recently, in September 2024, she told Variety on the Emmys red carpet, “I heard that they’re making another Friday Night Lights, which I find bizarre.”
Puck was the first to break the news of the reboot in development.
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