CHiPs to come to the big screen?

CHiPs.jpgTalking of old TV Series being made into movies, Contact Music through IGN FilmForce have the suggestion that a movie for the ChiPs series is on the go. That’s California Highway Patrol, for those of you who didn’t know. Poncho and Jon on their police bikes, obligatory episode highway crash, remember now?

The Contact Music website reports that original star Erik Estrada has been talking with actor George Lopez about a CHiPs movie.

Estrada claims that G.Lo is interested in playing Ponch and further reveals that Friends star Matthew Perry is in talks to play Jon. He says, “George expects to modernize the series, bringing in a lot more humor… It might work. It’s different enough to.”

Fantastic, now, to give you an idea I have placed the images below for you side by side. I’ve taken them from the later TV movie for CHiPs where the characters are a bit older, you be the judge.

GeorgeLopez-MatthewPerry.jpg

I think they look pretty good, and I’d love to see CHiPs back, but it would have to be in the same style and done like Starsky & Hutch, otherwise what would the story be, two motorcycle cops dealing with some average crime and a big road accident? Not so sure, still it’s just talk just now. What do you think, could these two be the ones, is it a good idea?

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19 thoughts on “CHiPs to come to the big screen?

  1. A movie-remake of CHiPS would be awesome, I think. I’m totally dating myself here by even SAYING I was a religious watcher of the show, but I think the movie would definitely entertain the old fogies (myself included) out there who enjoyed CHiPS as a tv show.

    I think Perry and Lopez would be a perfect fit, but they’d have to work up their smiling-on-cue bit to match Poncherello and the other one that no one really remembers. Plus they’d have to find people out there who actually REMEMBER how to rollerskate (and NOT rollerblading for you X & Y generations).

  2. i love the idea of a remake of chips perhaps not the actors i am a huge fan of the show and of lopez and perry but not all in one mix!
    perhaps if they chose different actors like benicio del toro for ponch and ryan phillipe for the jon role. these actors have chemistry as partners (ie the way of the gun) and would be betters choices to play these roles

  3. I would love to see the series on big screen!despite to your negative reponces,im a 70s to 80s
    kid i was a huge fan,had a crush on ponch,im all
    for the idea,i trust that that the script will be
    great,it will be intresting to see lopez to pull off the ponch disco dancing,with some good disco
    classics.and perry will bring a new kick to the
    character of jon!not that the orgiinal was bad!
    my vote is yes!i hope they go with it,i know i would be first in line to see it.

  4. Triflic. I haven’t seen it either, I’m totally talking on the comments we’ve had on the various Starsky & Hutch posts. Personally I think the idea is awful and I wouldn’t want to go see Ben Stiller for a very long time in anything comedy related.

    So the point is not that it can’t be done, perhaps that it shouldn’t be, and we should be left with our nostalgic view of the series.

    Still, Man from Uncle, Six Million Dollar Man, it’s all happening whether we like it or not. We can only hope we end up liking them.

    You’re dead right though, I think everyone bar the people who make the money are dreading any form of movie making approach to their project, be it comic, videogame, TV series or even original movie!

  5. Richard: fair enough, I have not seen the Starsky & Hutch remake film…Frankly, I’m all Stillered-out and don’t much appreciate Owen Wilson outside of Wes Anderson Films…

    I can’t really debate whether or not S&H was good. But the trailers didn’t do much out of me…Also, lets face it, being a ‘hit’ doesn’t mean being good…Van Helsing was well into the profit zone after DVD sales and that movie was about as lifeless/souless as you can get…

    More and more, I hear fans of any property (comic book, tv show, and fans books are dreading the “Hollywood Film” version) Only a few bright spots on the remake/film version landscape…Lord of the Rings, Hellboy (mildly successful) and Sin City).

    This is a bit of a non-sequitor, but…
    While I’m on a bit of a rant here, I can’t wait until Hollywood starts remaking game shows into films (believe me, I’m sure it’s coming: Jeopardy: the Movie, 25000 Pyramid: The Movie)

  6. Triflic. Starsky & Hutch was a nostalgic old show that couldn’t be remade, and they did it. They did it by changing the format and they were successful, maybe not with all the original fans but it was successful enough to be a hit.

    Now why couldn’t that be taken elsewhere? Let’s face it it’s happening to a number of series already.

    Lilly, what was the movie it was based on?

  7. Triffic, noooooooooooooooo, Chips wasn’t based on a movie, Greatest American Hero was. :-) And I wasn’t aware that Joss Wheaton wanted to make another Buffy big screen movie after the first one spawned the tv series.

  8. Lilly:
    “To do a movie take-off of a tv show that was based on a movie would not only be redundant, but silly.”

    And if they make the big screen version of Buffy the Vampire slayer…what say you then???

    Actually, I was not aware that CHiPS was based off of a movie…! I casually watched the show when I was young…I have just lost all enthusiasm for TVshow->Film remakes…And it’s starting to make me surly!

    To Richard: The Greatest American Hero i’m sure works (i.e. superb fun…-I AGREE!) mainly on the level of nostalgia, and believe you, me, they wouldn’t capture that on the big screen…while often the difference between the two mediums is subtle.

    As always you need a director and screen writers with both passion for doing it, as well as competence for doing it…You just don’t get that for TV show or Video game Movies..

  9. Uh, Richard, I hate to break this to you and Triffic, but that tv was based on a MOVIE. To do a movie take-off of a tv show that was based on a movie would not only be redundant, but silly.

    I hate Perry’s one-trick character. He’s Chandler in everything he’s in. Time to pull the feeding tube on Chandler. Let him die like all the other fading Friends’ characters.

  10. I loved the show as a kid, I am entertained by both Lopez and Perry, however a movie version of CHiPs??? My vote is no. I’m frankly tired of my favorite childhood tv shows venturing onto the big screen.

  11. CHiPS…Bad idea, what’s next? “THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO” film-adaptation?
    Oh, wait a minute..Dukes of Hazzard, A-Team, Knight-rider…are in either production or development-hell…Let the mining of bad 1980s television being…It’s hard to believe how TV has improved exponentially from the eighties to Twin Peaks to the X-Files/Simpsons/NYPDBlue to 24/Westwing/Sopranos/DeadLikeMe/6FeetUnder/Deadwood/Carnivale/Monk…It seems that the modern TV shows will never have remakes, as the TV version is a sophisticated as a film could ever be (in most cases waay more… (for a good example of this see The Singing Detective TV series vs. the recent film)…Where was this ramble going? I don’t know, but….

    Anyway, both of the actors have done their CHiPS roles on the big screen for 1993’s “LOADED WEAPON 1” where they have a cameo during a shoot-out.

  12. I am for the idea of bringing hit tv shows to film adaptations, it’s the same as doing a cover version of a popular but now forgotten tune, as it opens itself to a wider audience thus bringing in revenue. I agree with you though Rich that if they do remake CHiPs, do it ala “Starsky and Hutch”.

    Whatever happened to Erik Estrada?

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