Prison Break Is Coming Back. Again.

Prison Break has broken out of recognizable IP jail again, with a twist. A new reboot of the popular crime drama will still be in the same universe as the original series, but it’ll boast a completely new cast and storyline. 

Hulu will be hoping the high-octane thrills of the old Break can be recaptured with a story focusing on Cassidy, a former soldier who takes a job at one of America’s deadliest prisons. Her mission is personal, driven by a willingness to go to extreme lengths for someone she cares about. By following a corrections officer rather than an inmate, this reboot flips the classic Prison Break formula. And simply by centering a female character, some online tabloid can surely collect enough internet posts to write its obligatory “Prison Break has gone woke” article. Sigh.

Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell may be long gone, but the new Break has an interesting cast. Emily Browning (Violet in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) will be Cassidy, and she’ll be joined by Teen Wolf’s JR Bourne and Lukas Gage (Companion, Road House), among others.

Fans can also rest easy knowing the original creative team is involved in the reboot. Creator Paul Scheuring returns alongside executive producers Marty Adelstein, Neal Moritz, and Dawn Olmstead, while Mayans M.C. co-creator Elgin James will be running things. He’s already recruited Clayton Cardenas, who played Angel Reyes on the show, for this new TV project.

The original Prison Break was a big hit and ran for four seasons before a TV movie called The Final Break seemed to wrap up the series. Eight years later, it was revived for a fifth season. When it hit Netflix, it then shot to the top of the streaming charts, proving that the trusty Break formula (including its many ludicrous plot twists) had stood the test of time. 

Hulu hasn’t announced a release date for its reboot yet, but the pilot that the streamer ordered back in December of last year seems to have gone down well.

Can a fresh spin keep Breakers interested? All we know is our gut says “maybe.”