Josh Gad to Star in ‘Gilligan’s Island’ for Warner Bros
Warner Bros. is sending Josh Gad to “Gilligan’s Island,” its long-in-development movie adaptation of the 1960s sitcom.
The “Book Of Mormon” thesp is on board to star and to write the script with Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez. Lloyd Schwartz — son of original show producer Sherwood Shwartz — is exec producing with Ross Schwartz, Tracey Silvers and Cathy Silvers.
Warner Bros. has not set up “Gilligan’s Island” with a producer. Variety reported in 2010 that the studio had launched development with Atlas Entertainment’s Chuck Roven and Richard Suckle but they are no longer involved.
SEE ALSO: Gilligan’s Island’ headed to the bigscreen
The iconic CBS sitcom, which generated solid ratings during its three seasons between 1964 and 1967 and then found something close to eternal life in syndication.
The 98 episodes of “Gilligan’s Island,” starring Bob Denver as the hapless title character, centered on the wacky misadventures of seven castaways — two crew members, a millionaire couple, a professor, a movie star and a girl-next-door type — on an uncharted and uninhabited island in the Pacific.
Sherwood Schwartz composed “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle,” which ran at the top of each segment, as a way for viewers to understand the premise. Co-stars were Alan Hale Jr., Tina Louise, Dawn Wells, Jim Backus, Russell Johnson and Natalie Schafer.
Final episode aired on April 17, 1967, with the castaways still stranded as the skein wasn’t renewed for a fourth season.
The news about Gad was first reported on Deadline.com.
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