‘The Rockford Files’ Reboot Casts David Boreanaz

David Boreanaz is about to take on an iconic television character. Variety reports that David Boreanaz has been cast as Jim Rockford in NBC’s upcoming pilot for The Rockford Files remake. James Garner originated the role and played it for the original run of The Rockford Files from 1974 to 1980, and reprised it in eight television movies, with his final appearance as the character in 1999.

Boreanaz has been a staple of television for over 30 years. He is best known for his role on Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which he appeared on for three seasons from 1996 to 1999. Boreanaz would get his own spin-off, titled Angel, which aired from 1999 to 2004 on The WB. The following year, Boreanaz starred as Agent Seeley Booth on Bones, which aired from 2005 to 2017. Shortly after Bones ended its 12-season run, Boreanaz became a lead on SEAL Team, a CBS series that ran from 2017 to 2024. This two-year gap between SEAL Team‘s series finale and The Rockford Files pilot is the longest period Boreanaz has been off television in over 30 years.

Will David Boreanaz Be the Good Luck Charm ‘The Rockford Files’ Reboot Needs?

David Boreanaz stars in SEAL Team

CBS / Paramount+

Given Boreanaz’s track record of leading long-running, successful television series, his inclusion in The Rockford Files pilot is a strong sign of potential for a series order. This is not the first time that a revamp of The Rockford Files has been attempted. In 2009, NBC ordered a remake pilot with Dermot Mulroney cast as Rockford that was ultimately passed on. In 2012, Universal Pictures announced a live-action feature film remake starring Vince Vaughn, which was ultimately canceled following James Garner’s death in 2014.

The latest attempt to reboot The Rockford Files was announced in January 2026 by writer Mike Daniels. NBC has given the series a pilot order, with the hope that it will be picked up following pilot season and receive a full-season order in time for the 2026-2027 television season. The remake will keep the original series’ formula: Jim Rockford is a private investigator trying to get his life back on track in Los Angeles after being recently paroled following incarceration for a crime he didn’t commit.

With Angel as a supernatural private investigator and Bones focusing on law enforcement, investigating a series of intriguing cases, The Rockford Files is right within Boreanaz’s wheelhouse. With how well CBS has done rebooting Matlock, it certainly suggests audiences are craving reboots of iconic television series. Combining The Rockford Files name with David Boreanaz’s television legacy seems like a recipe for success at the moment. However, it could complicate Boreanaz’s potential return in the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival, which has a pilot order from Hulu.

Release Date: 1974 – 1980-00-00
Network: NBC
Directors: William Wiard, Lawrence Doheny, Ivan Dixon, Jerry London, Reza Badiyi, Russ Mayberry, Jackie Cooper, Lou Antonio, Corey Allen, Jeannot Szwarc, Stephen J. Cannell, Alexander Grasshoff, Arnold Laven, Harry Falk, John Patterson, Stuart Margolin, Alexander Singer, Bernard L. Kowalski, Bernard McEveety, Bruce Kessler, Charles S. Dubin, Christian I. Nyby II, Dana Elcar, Hy Averback
Writers: Gordon T. Dawson, Rudolph Borchert, Don Carlos Dunaway, Edward J. Lakso, David Taylor, Donald L. Gold, Rogers Turrentine, Walter Dallenbach, Lester Wm. Berke, William R. Stratton, Jo Swerling Jr., Leigh Brackett, Mitch Lindemann, Robert Hamner, Zekial Marko, Howard Berk, Shel Willens, Eric Kaldor, Gloryette Clark