FX's Justified revival is officially happening with Timothy Olyphant returning as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens and executive producer. Based on Elmore Leonard's series of stories, the Western crime drama centers on Olyphant's old-fashioned lawman bringing his own brand of justice to the job as he is reassigned to his hometown Kentucky area, where he deals with local crime, namely organized crime. Alongside Olyphant, the main cast for Justified included Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Joelle Carter, Natalie Ze, Walton Goggins and Jere Burns.
Developed by Graham Yost, Justified was a smash hit for FX, scoring rave reviews for its writing, direction and performances, namely those of Olyphant, Goggins and later recurring stars Margo Martindale and Jeremy Davies. The series also received eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations in its six-season run, winning two for Martindale and Davies' performances. With Justified having come to a close early from Yost and Olyphant choosing to bring the story to an end, many have remained hopeful for the show to come back at some point, and now fans have exciting news coming their way.
Nearly a year after it was announced the project was in the works, FX has confirmed that a Justified revival is officially happening with Timothy Olyphant returning to star and executive produce. The project, subtitled City Primeval and inspired by Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name, will see Raylan now living in Miami eight years after leaving Kentucky and balancing his life as a Marshal and part-time father to a 14-year-old girl as he must go to Detroit to deal with the thoroughly elusive Oklahoma Wildman. Eric Schrier, President of FX Entertainment, wrote in a statement.
“Justified was one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the past decade and an adaption of Elmore Leonard’s work that was so colorfully brought to life by Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, Graham Yost and the entire team of producers, writers, directors and cast. To have this group come together again with Tim as Raylan in a new and different Elmore Leonard story is thrilling. I want to thank our showrunners Dave and Michael, and their fellow executive producers Tim, Graham, Sarah and Carl, the Elmore Leonard estate as well as our partners at Sony Pictures Television, for making this possible.”
Though Yost may not be returning as the writer or showrunner for the show, Justified: City Primeval is being headed by Dave Andron and Michael Dinner, both of whom worked on the original series in their respective positions as writers, executive producers and directors. It should also prove promising for fans that the revival is utilizing one of Leonard's source novels as the source for its story rather than crafting a solely original story, thus ensuring the show keeps its tone and story in touch with the original works. With Olyphant now officially attached to the Justified revival and a writers room properly set with Andron and Dinner alongside Taylor Elmore, Chris Provenzano, V.J. Boyd, Eisa Davis and Ingrid Escajeda, news for production's start should be right around the corner.
The Justified revival marks Olyphant's latest return to the Western genre in which he first rose to stardom nearly 20 years ago. In addition to a supporting turn as James Stacy in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Olyphant was recently seen in the long-awaited Deadwood: The Movie and The Mandalorian, both of which he earned Emmy nominations for. While audiences await new word on the revival, the original Justified can be streamed in its entirety on Hulu now.