Jim Belushi has been cast in Fox’s upcoming drama pilot Urban Cowboy, a modern reimagining of the 1980 Paramount movie Urban Cowboy starring John Travolta and Debra Winger. Alfonso Herrera, who most recently co-starred in a psychic orgy in the Netflix series Sense8, was cast earlier this month as the television adaptation’s lead. Urban Cowboy is being developed for Fox by Craig Brewer, who rebooted Footloose, along with Robert Evans, who put together the original film. Brewer will write and direct the pilot.
The television series will closely follow the plot of the original film, which was about the star-crossed relationship of Sissy and Bud. Presumably, some small adjustments will be made to indicate that this is 2015’s Texas and not 1980’s Texas—although, we suspect those two things might not look all that different. Sorry, Texas. The outdated names of Sissy and Bud, at least, have been updated to be Kyle a.k.a. Juan Miguel (Herrera) and Gaby, star-crossed lovers slogging through honky-tonks and oil refineries in pursuit of their dreams. It’s all set against the supposed “glamour” of modern-day Texas. Belushi is set to play Marshall Stoval, a long-haul truck driver who trades in his truck life to become a honky-tonk owner. Together, Marshall and his bar Gilley’s are Houston institutions.
Music will have a strong presence, just as it did in the film. Belushi has a background in music, most famously as part of The Blues Brothers live act after his brother John died. Although he didn’t get to show off this particular talent in Sense8, Herrera also has a musical background. Belushi is currently in David Simon’s HBO miniseries Show Me A Hero, and he recently wrapped a stint on Amazon’s upcoming period drama Good Girls Revolt. The role of Gaby in Urban Cowboy has not been cast yet, so there’s still hope that Fox could just throw away all age-logic and cast Debra Winger.