CHiPS

After several weeks of limited movement, a handful of new releases prompted a pretty thorough shakeup of the Box Office Top 10. While Beauty and the Beast continued its unstoppable assault on the domestic box office, we also said hello this weekend to three new movies and goodbye to a handful of old favorites from the first few months of the year. Let’s start with the estimated numbers as of Sunday afternoon.

The California Highway Patrol became internationally famous in the 1970s thanks to CHiPs, an NBC TV series following the adventures of two patrolmen, played by Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox. Though the show mostly faded into obscurity, it’s getting a big-screen revival this year as CHIPS, a bigger, louder, lewder version written by, directed by, and starring Dax Shepard, with the versatile and talented Michael Peña as Estrada’s character Ponch.

A little less than a week ago, the internet got an eyeful of the trailer for the upcoming remake of seminal ’70s buddy cop program CHiPS. The response was, to put it diplomatically, varied — many groaned at the film’s decision to trot out hoary gay-panic gags, disappointed to learn that Hollywood has not left the whole “two heterosexual men frightened of each other’s bodies” schtick behind. Others, such as star Dax Shepard’s wife Kristen Bell (a skilled comedic actress in her own right, portraying Shepard’s wife in the film), presumably told him it looked real good and she couldn't wait to buy a ticket. One person has been surprisingly vocal in his distaste for the film, however.

You tilted your head to the side and went, “Huh,” when you first heard about it. You said to yourself, “Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that,” when you saw casting news about it. Now, you can see it for yourself — or, at least, two minutes and forty-two seconds of it: Dax Shepard’s CHiPs movie remake finally has its very first trailer.

Warner Bros. has announced release dates for two of their upcoming adaptations / reboots, adding both films — along with an untitled mystery project — to their 2017 slate. First up is CHiPs, Dax Shepard’s new action-comedy based on the classic ’80s TV series, starring Shepard and Michael Peña in the leading roles. Next is It, the long-developing and slightly-delayed adaptation of Stephen King’s beloved horror novel, which became the subject of some minor controversy following director Cary Fukunaga’s departure.

In a move that’s not entirely surprising but should add a little extra appeal to the upcoming CHiPs movie, Kristen Bell has joined the cast of the film, which is being directed by her real-life husband Dax Shepard. Shepard also co-stars in the film with Michael Pena, with the two playing the lead roles of Officer John Baker and Frank “Ponch” Poncherello.

When the big screen version of CHiPs was first announced, our assumption was that the film would be largely comedic, with Warner Bros. likely capitalizing on the success of the Jump Street franchise. It would seem that we were slightly wrong. Michael Pena, who plays Frank “Ponch” Poncherello in the upcoming film, compares the project to Lethal Weapon and says it will be rated R. Cue head scratch.

Vincent D’Onofrio is now officially a career movie and television villain to the point where, even if the big twist in a movie revealed D’Onofrio as the bad guy, we’d all roll our eyes and say, “Well, obviously.” The actor will now use his particular set of skills to take on the role of lead villain in Dax Shepard’s upcoming big screen version of classic cop series CHiPs.

Looks like Warner Bros. is hoping they can replicate the success Columbia had with '21 Jump Street' with a small-to-big screen reboot of their own: the studio has hired Dax Shepard to write, direct, and star in a film version of the classic cop series 'CHiPS,' and he's bringing Michael Pena along for the ride.