Angus MacGyver to make a comeback at the flicks

OK so it's not science fiction but it is slight of hand fiction and that's close enough, the secret agent with the knack of getting out of any sticky situation by using whatever was easily reachable is to make a comeback, Borys Kit and Jay Fernandez report, "New Line is using twine, bubble gum and a pencil to throw "MacGyver" into development as a feature film.

Raffaella De Laurentiis, daughter of Dino De Laurentiis, is producing through her Raffaella Prods. along with Martha De Laurentiis and series creator Lee Zlotoff.

Dino De Laurentiis is exec producing.

"MacGyver" was a science-oriented adventure series that ran from 1985-92 on ABC. Richard Dean Anderson, later of "Stargate: Atlantis" and "SG-1" fame, starred as an incredibly resourceful secret agent for the Phoenix Foundation who frequently would escape from dangerous situations with ingenious and lightning-quick engineering trickery.

Two telefilms starring Anderson aired in the years after the show's cancellation. The character eventually achieved enough cultural penetration to become a reference for anyone attempting to jury-rig a solution out of household items. "Saturday Night Live" took the concept to the next level with its spoofs "MacGruber," starring Will Forte.

No writer is attached, but the studio hopes to find a script that can acknowledge how the concept has staked a place into pop culture yet still makes for a serious and fun adventure movie.

"We think we're a stick of chewing gum, a paper clip and an A-list writer away from a global franchise," said New Line's Richard Brener, who will oversee with Sam Brown and Walter Hamada. Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Richard Dean Anderson as the mercurial Angus MacGyver (click to enlargen)

One of the best bits of off-the-cuff comedy takes on the series Stargate SG-1 was when Amanda Tapping as Major Samantha Carter had a brainsnap (in a nice way) during the filming of an episode, when she, as Major Samantha Carter says to Richard Dean Anderson as Colonel Jack O'Neil while they are traversing a glacier "We got belt buckles and shoelaces and a piece of gum: build a reactor for crying out loud! You used to be MacGyver, Macgadget, Macgimmick, now you’re Mr. Macuseless, dear God, I’m stuck on a glacier with MacGyver!"