CBS Teams Up With 'Harry Potter' Director to Remake 'The Rifleman'

Chris Columbus is attached to direct the pilot episode of the project that is based on the Chuck Connors-starring classic western series.

• Nov 9, 2011

AceShowbiz - CBS is going to revive "The Rifleman" after it ended its run a few decades ago. Chris Columbus, who directed "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", is on board to direct the first episode should the reboot project receive pilot order.

Columbus, who was also behind movie adaptation "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief", will additionally executive produce the show along with the original series' producer Arthur Gardner. Laeta Kalogridis ("Shutter Island") and Patrick Lussier ("Drive Angry"), meanwhile, provide the script.

The original "Rifleman" was debuted in 1958 and aired on ABC until 1963. The classis western series follows Chuck Connors' Lucas McCain, a widower and a Civil War veteran, who moves to North Fork, New Mexico to carve out a new life for himself and his young son Mark. There, he joins forces with the Sheriff to protect his new town and become its unofficial guardian.

Just last weekend, another period western drama "Hell on Wheels" was debuted on AMC. It attracted a fairly large audience for the cable network.