I am – Hercules!!


James Purefoy – whose Antony was for me the best part of “Rome’s” excellent final season – is reportedly being pursued to play Simon Templar in Barry Levinson’s new TV version of “The Saint.”

Introduced in a long series of novels by Leslie Charteris, Templar is a modern, sophisticated Robin Hood who liberates wealth from evildoers.

Levinson – whose big-screen credits include everything from “Diner,” “Rain Man,” and “Good Morning, Vietnam” to “Bandits,” “Envy” and “Man of the Year” – will direct a 2-hour pilot to be shopped to networks.

Jorge Zamacoma, who earlier teamed with Levinson on “Homicide: Life on the Street,” wrote the teleplay.

Roger Moore, who played Templar in the 1960s TV series, is one of the producers on the project. There have been loads of “Saint” movies (the first in 1938, the most recent in 1997) as well as a short-lived second “Saint” TV series that ran on CBS in 1978.

Read all of The Hollywood Reporter’s story on the matter here.

$39.99: Every Issue 1963-2006!!