ITV1 has confirmed that Sir Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel will star in the network’s reinvention of the 1960s thriller, The Prisoner, to be shot in Swakopmund, Namibia, shortly. The six-part series will be broadcast next year. Originally Sky was set to produce The Prisoner but after a disagreement with US cable co-producer AMC, the broadcaster pulled out and ITV stepped in.
The original series debuted in 1967 and was created, written and produced by Patrick McGoohan.
ITV today said the remake, which has been written by Bill Gallagher, “will reflect 21st century concerns and anxieties, such as liberty, security and surveillance, yet also showcase the same key elements of paranoia, tense action and socio-political commentary seen in McGoohan’s enigmatic original”.
Caviezel has been cast as Number Six, the hero who finds himself trapped in the surreal place known as The Village, without memory of how he got there. Caviezel who played Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s controversial film The Passion of the Christ, has also appeared in The Thin Red Line, Ride with the Devil, Frequency, Angel Eyes and Deja vu.
McKellen, who played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, will take the role of Number Two, the sinister head of The Village. McKellen is acknowledged as one of the world’s top stage and screen actors.
