Gordon Smith, a writer and executive producer on Netflix's hit Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul, is developing a new show based on the long-running series of Destroyer action novels for Sony.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Smith will write and executive produce the series, with Adrian Askarieh of Prime Universe Films serving as another executive producer. They intend to use the large library of existing material to create a "cohesive and iconic international action/adventure universe," retaining the "sardonic humor" of the books.

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Who Is Remo Williams?

The Destroyer novels revolve around former Newark street cop Remo Williams, who is sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. After a secretive government organization set up by President John F. Kennedy fakes his death and whisks him away, Remo is trained to become a US government assassin. The first novel was published in 1971 and the series reached peak popularity in the 70s and 80s. To date, over 150 Destroyer novels by different authors have been published. The last one, Monumental Terror, came out in 2019.

The Sony series wouldn't be the first time Remo Williams crosses over into other media, including comics. In 1985, a cinematic feature bearing the confident title Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, directed by James Bond veteran Guy Hamilton, was released with the intention of launching an American Bond-like franchise. Starring the late Tremors actor Fred Ward, it bombed at the box office and didn't generate any sequels. However, it became something of a nostalgic cult classic over the years.

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There have been several other attempts since to bring Remo Williams back to big and small screens. Like its theatrical predecessor, a 1988 TV pilot failed to launch a series. In 2014, Iron Man 3 director Shane Black attempted a cinematic reboot that didn't come to fruition.

The new Destroyer series is part of an overall deal Smith has with Sony Pictures Television. Smith got his start as an office production assistant for Season 3 of Breaking Bad, then became an assistant for the show's creator Vince Gilligan in Season 4 and the writers' assistant in Season 5. His first produced full-length TV script, the 2015 Better Call Saul episode "Five-O," earned him an Emmy nomination, with the "Chicanery" episode, made in 2016, landing him a second one. As an executive producer, he shared in the nominations for Best Series four times.

Better Call Saul is currently streaming on Netflix.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter