James Purefoy is The Saint

emtiem

From saint.org:

saint.org wrote:

James Purefoy, who played Mark Antony in "Rome" is set to play the new Simon Templar in the forthcoming TV series of The Saint.

Bill Macdonald tells www.saint.org (the official website of The Saint Club) that his team is prepping a two-hour pilot for a European shoot. The reason for shooting in Europe is the current strike situation in U.S. would otherwise hold up production. Shooting in Berlin and Australia begins in April.

Bill goes on to say that the show is being produced by himself (William J. MacDonald), Geoffrey Moore (Sir Roger Moore's son), and Jorge Zamacona (most recently of "Oz").

James Purefoy, who will play the new Saint, was screen tested for the role of James Bond in 1995 for Goldeneye, and throughout 2004 and 2005 Purefoy's name was rumoured as a possible candidate to replace Brosnan as agent 007 in future James Bond films. These rumors surfaced again before the 2006 film, Casino Royale.

What do you reckon? They don't mention having a broadcaster, which is always a bit of a worry. If it happens it could be decent though, depending on who they get to make it.

Sir Miles

I'd like to see this happen, Purefoy could pull this off - I just hope he's given decent scripts.

John Drake

It's about time. Purefory is certainly an improvement on Val "My name is Bruno" Kilmer. Purefoy even looks a bit like Ian Ogilvy. I hope they use the books as source material. This is good news, although I'm cautious about it. There have been rumours before, but they came to nothing. Still, this is very promising.

RogueAgent

John Drake wrote:

It's about time. Purefory is certainly an improvement on Val "My name is Bruno" Kilmer.

) ) )

As long as they use Orbital's theme from that movie, I'm all for it. Although I'm sure we won't see it right away over here once it airs.

Maybe not at all...

emtiem

RogueAgent wrote:

As long as they use Orbital's theme from that movie, I'm all for it. Although I'm sure we won't see it right away over here once it airs

Yes I do hope they use the Roger/Val theme as opposed to the 'proper' one which Charteris came up with and is used in every other version- the first Roger one is just so much better!

Willie Garvin

I think James Purefoy's an excellent actor and he'll make a fine Simon Templar.However,as earlier noted,the quality of the writing will be absolutely essential to any success this series might enjoy.

Hopefully the producers will go back to Leslie Charteris and readapt his stories-that alone is easily enough source material for several seasons.Why work with lesser authors?After all,other writers-among them Fleming Lee,who Charteris personally selected as his successor-could not improve on The Saint's creator.

Napoleon Plural

Must admit I thought that Hugh Grant would have made a good Saint back in the Four Weddings Days, in a movie set in the 1930s. That could have made a series lasting over a decade well into World War 2.

Not sure though. Urbanised period thrillers need more blood and style to grab attention, like The Untouchables and The Godfather or LA Confidential. Otherwise it can look anachronistic. The Indiana Jones series is mostly set in the jungle or the desert, places that don't date much at all. So even though he's battling Nazis, there isn't that jarring moment where you realise the past is a different country.

Crown 7

Pierce would have been a fantastic Templar. Kilmer is Arsene Lupin not the Saint.:v

Lady Rose

Script is essential.We really don't want a repeat of the awful Simon Dutton saga.

I think Purefoy and can pull it off if the scripts are right.

Loeffelholz

I was extremely impressed with Purefoy's Marc Antony in Rome, and eagerly anticipate what he might do with Simon Templar...very canny of them to avoid the current union mess with the writers in the U.S.

Napoleon Plural

Loeffelholz wrote:

I was extremely impressed with Purefoy's Marc Antony in Rome, and eagerly anticipate what he might do with Simon Templar...

) In view of what he gets up to in Rome you could have phrased that better, Loeffelholz...

Loeffelholz

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

I was extremely impressed with Purefoy's Marc Antony in Rome, and eagerly anticipate what he might do with Simon Templar...

) In view of what he gets up to in Rome you could have phrased that better, Loeffelholz...

I won't even pretend to understand what you're getting at ?:)

EDIT: Oh, yeah...

blueman

Great news, always wanted to see what he could've done with Bond, but ST needs a makeover too. Agree with well, everybody--hopefully he gets good scripts, yes indeedy.

Gotta admit, I'm expecting something more akin to "Highlander" in terms of writing quality, dunno why...guess we'll see.

Napoleon Plural

Should it be set in the past or present day, Saint fans?

Hardyboy

I just think it's appropriate that someone whose name means "pure faith" should be a Saint.

John Drake

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Should it be set in the past or present day, Saint fans?

I think it will be set in the present. Presumably it would cost a lot more to make it a period piece, and I imagine they would want to utilise the success of the Bourne films, CR 07, 24, and in the UK Spooks. The trend at the moment does seem to be for a certain level of realism. I hope they put some glamour in it though. There's nothing around like that at the moment.

emtiem

Yes; got to be honest; although I'd like to see a Saint set in period, I don't think this will be it as it'll cost too much, as you say. Plus I don't think that Purefoy is exactly Templar as written (his hair colour is wrong! Shock horror! ) but he should make a good hero.

Plus I like to see the Saint in a cool modern car
Mark me down as Return of the Saint having the best motor so far. Perhaps a new Jag XKR? In white, natch.

Willie Garvin

The Saint television series have never been period pieces--including Roger Moore's famous 1960s version.They've always been set in the present day, and there's really no reason,especially given today's trends-as John Drake observes- that this particular interpretation should prove an exception to the rule.That said,I'd like to see some inventive carmaker convert an existing automobile into Simon Templar's legendary(and fictional)Hirendel.

I join with John in hoping that-as with all of the other TV incarnations of The Saint-this show has its share of charm and elegance.Those are some of the qualities that always set The Saint apart from other action heroes.I think it'd be a shame if it turns out that the resemblance this newest Saint has to the literary character is only the famous name and nothing more.

emtiem

Willie Garvin wrote:

I join with John in hoping that-as with all of the other TV incarnations of The Saint-this show has its share of charm and elegance.Those are some of the qualities that always set The Saint apart from other action heroes.I think it'd be a shame if it turns out that the resemblance this newest Saint has to the literary character is only the famous name and nothing more.

Yeah definitely. Although not in period, I don't see any reason why he can't be a bit more faithful to the book character than previous versions- make him a bit more playful (Ogilvy got this a bit more), but a bit more of a crook too- he is supposed to be a bit of a thief, after all. He's been a bit too much of a cut-price Bond (Roger's notably) whereas he can be fairly unique.

John Drake

emtiem wrote:

but a bit more of a crook too- he is supposed to be a bit of a thief, after all. He's been a bit too much of a cut-price Bond (Roger's notably) whereas he can be fairly unique.

Agreed. They have to put the guy that Charteris wrote about on the screen. If it's just a Bond knock-off it might be fun, but I don't think it will stand out or last. At the weekend I was flicking through the TV channels, and I settled on an episode of Hart to Hart. Now HtH was Cheese, but I ended up watching it because it had a kind of glamour that you just don't see anymore on screen. Remington Steele, which is perhaps a better example had this too. It would be nice if they could combine the toughness present in the original Charteris novels, with those kind of production values.