Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen To Star in AMC's Remake of "The Prisoner"

 

 "I am not a number -- I am a free man!"  Anyone old enough or, let's face it, geeky enough to know those words by heart may have already heard that American Movie Classics is remaking that '60s cult favorite, The Prisoner. Now the network has announced the main cast: Jim Caviezel will play the imprisoned secret agent known as Number 6, while Sir Ian McKellen will play the mysterious Number 2.

Created and produced by its star, Patrick McGoohan, the short-lived British series was ostensibly about a spy who quits his job, then is captured and held in a strange "village" run by unknown people for unknown purposes. Are they trying to learn his secrets, brainwash him, destroy his identity or drive him crazy? And who's actually in charge? ("Number 2" was someone different in each episode.)

The show dealt with a lot of still-timely issues, such as identity theft, living under constant surveillance, and knowing the difference between paranoia and actual danger. At the same time, it was also pretty campy by today's standards, with surreal plot lines, "psychedelic" effects and strange background music -- not to mention Rover, the giant beach ball that chased down and engulfed anyone who tried to escape. And the final episode, which viewers expected would explain everything, turned out to be the most ambiguous and obscure of them all. (McGoohan later explained that it was an allegory for the idea that people are actually prisoners of themselves.)

AMC, which has proved its original-programming mettle with Mad Men and Breaking Bad, seems like a great place for a remake of the show, one that might clarify the story without losing its rich symbolism. Caviezel, who's best known for playing Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, certainly knows his way around a persecuted character... while Oscar nominee McKellen (Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings) has the perfect air of devilish authority to play Number 6's main tormentor.

The Prisoner will air as a six-episode miniseries on AMC sometime next year. And, not to give away too much about ourselves, we friggin' can't wait.

Below, a typical scene from the original series:  

 

Photo: AMC