Hulu is hoping for a daring escape as they order a pilot for a new ‘Prison Break’ series from ‘Mayans M.C.’ and ‘The Outlaws’ co-creator Elgin James, and 20th Television.
The original series starred Wentworth Miller as Michael Scofield, and Dominic Purcell as his brother, Lincoln Burrows. Lincoln is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, so Michael, his genius little brother. devises an elaborate plot, which involves getting himself locked up, to help his brother escape the prison and clear his name.
Plot details on the new show are scarce, however, before fans get too excited about the idea of seeing Michael and Lincoln again, it is believed this will be a new story set in the same universe as the original, but very much its own thing. That does mean there is a possibility for some of the original cast to show up, but it won’t be another Michael and Lincoln story in this new iteration. And, much as I love those two together, that’s probably a good thing…
The original series ran for four seasons on Fox, from 2005 to 2009, followed by a revival “event series” in 2017, which pretty much wrapped Michael and Lincoln’s story. As the show went on, it was getting a little tough to work out ways for it to include the “Prison Break” idea, without things getting very convoluted…
There is also the decision by Wentworth Miller, who came out as gay in 2013 and commented in 2020 that he no longer wanted to play straight characters. Given that Michael is a straight character, he added that sadly means he was “done” with the role. Both Purcell, and Sarah Wayne Callies, who played his wife Sara in the series, posted to social media supporting his choice. So, whilst we’re unlikely to see Michael again, it’s possible Purcell, Callies, or some of the other cast, such as Robert Knepper, who played “T-Bag”, or Rockmond Dunbar, who played “C-Note”, could pop up along the way.
Elgin James, who is best known for co-creating ‘Mayans M.C.’ alongside Kurt Sutter, and ‘The Outlaws’ alongside Stephen Merchant, will write and exec produce the pilot, with original series creator Paul Scheuring and the original series executive producers Dawn Olmstead, Marty Adelstein and Neal Moritz also exec producing. 20th Television will be the studio.
We should stress, Hulu has only ordered a pilot at this point, so it’s possible the new ‘Prison Break’ will not go to series, however, this is a positive sign. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
