The Rockford Files as Rocky. A pilot was filmed but never broadcast. Early audiences indicated that the pilot was not directed well. On May 13, 2010, the "Rockford Files" remake was canceled by NBC. A feature adaptation was in production by Universal Pictures as of 2012, with Vince Vaughn associated with the project as producer and star. After the death of actor James Garner in 2014, the film adaptation was postponed, but Vaughn is hoping to get the film project made. Stephen J. Cannell's script for "The Rockford Files" pilot episode The Rockford Files The Rockford Files is an American television drama series
The Rockford Files with Universal regarding the profits from "Rockford Files" that lasted over a decade. The dispute caused significant ill will between Garner and the studio. The dispute was settled out of court in Garner's favor, but the conflict meant that the Rockford character would not re-emerge until 1994. Universal began syndicating the show in 1979 and aggressively marketed it to local stations well into the early and middle 1980s. This accounts for its near-ubiquity on afternoon and late-night schedules in those days. From those showings, "Rockford" developed a following with younger viewers, with the momentum continuing throughout the 1990s and 2000s