Roots Remake in the Works at History
Kunta Kinte lives.
The cable network History is planning a new version of the iconic 1977 miniseries Roots, our sister site Deadline reports.
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The highly rated, award-winning original TV event, which aired on ABC, was based on Alex Haley’s book, Roots: The Saga of an American Family and starred LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte, an African man captured in the 1700s and sold into slavery.
Haley’s work tells the story of the man and his descendants, one of whom allegedly was Haley himself.
History has obtained rights to the 1977 version and to Haley’s book; Mark Wolper (Bates Motel), son of Roots EP David L. Wolper, is attached to exec-produce.
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The new project will cast a modern eye on the story told in the book and ’70s movie, thereby reviving “that cultural icon for a new audience,” History executive vice president and general manager Dirk Hoogstra tells the site.
History had great success in the recent past with two other miniseries: The Bible, the premiere of which grabbed 13.1 million viewers, and Hatfields & McCoys, whose finale drew 14.3 million pairs of eyeballs.
Would you watch a Roots remake? Sound off in the comments!
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