‘Justified’ and Timothy Olyphant set to return as a limited series on FX

The team from the award-winning drama series Justified is reuniting for the FX limited series Justified: City Primeval, with Timothy Olyphant reprising his iconic role as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in a new tale inspired by City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, the epic crime novel by the late, great Elmore Leonard, it was announced today by Eric Schrier, President, FX Entertainment.

Dave Andron and Michael Dinner are Showrunners, Writers and Executive Producers, with Dinner directing. Olyphant is the star and Executive Producer. Graham Yost, Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly are Executive Producers, alongside Peter Leonard, Taylor Elmore (Writer), Chris Provenzano (Writer). Walter Mosley is Consulting Producer, and V.J. Boyd, Eisa Davis and Ingrid Escajeda are Writers. The series will be produced by Sony Pictures Television and FX Productions.

“Justified was one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the past decade and an adaption of Elmore Leonard’s work that was so colorfully brought to life by Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, Graham Yost and the entire team of producers, writers, directors and cast,” said Schrier. “To have this group come together again with Tim as Raylan in a new and different Elmore Leonard story is thrilling. I want to thank our showrunners Dave and Michael, and their fellow executive producers Tim, Graham, Sarah and Carl, the Elmore Leonard estate as well as our partners at Sony Pictures Television, for making this possible.”

“When Justified concluded, the love and affection for this exceptional series only grew and left audiences craving more Raylan Givens. The iconic Elmore Leonard was one of the premier authors of our time and no one has quite captured his tone and authenticity as well as this Justified team,” said President of Sony Pictures Television Studios, Jeff Frost and Co-President, Jason Clodfelter. “We look forward to experiencing the magic again of Tim, Graham, Dave, Michael and our preeminent executive producer team. We are so thrilled to be continuing this remarkable ride with our partners at FX.”

Having left the hollers of Kentucky eight years ago, Raylan Givens now lives in Miami, a walking anachronism balancing his life as a U.S. Marshal and part-time father of a 14-year-old girl.  His hair is grayer, his hat is dirtier, and the road in front of him is suddenly a lot shorter than the road behind.

A chance encounter on a desolate Florida highway sends him to Detroit.  There he crosses paths with Clement Mansell, aka The Oklahoma Wildman, a violent, sociopathic desperado who’s already slipped through the fingers of Detroit’s finest once and aims to do so again.  Mansell’s lawyer, formidable Motor City native Carolyn Wilder, has every intention of representing her client, even as she finds herself caught in between cop and criminal, with her own game afoot as well. These three characters set out on a collision course in classic Elmore Leonard fashion, to see who makes it out of the City Primeval alive.

As a drama series, Justified ran for six seasons on FX from 2010-2015 and was nominated for eight Emmy Awards, received two Emmy Awards wins among numerous other awards, including a Peabody Award and AFI Television Program of the Year Award. 

Justified was based on the Elmore Leonard novella, Fire in the Hole, and Leonard consulted with the producers and participated on panels for the show up until his death in August of 2013.

Photo: Prashant Gupta