MacGyver

New Line is cobbling together its "MacGyver" movie, entering talks with James Wan after the director's supernatural horror pic "The Conjuring" pleased studio brass.
The 1980s TV series starring Richard Dean Anderson followed Angus MacGyver, an agent of the fictional Phoenix Foundation. MacGyver never carried a gun, using his wits and whatever was lying around to fight criminals.

No plot details have emerged for the script that Jason Richman drafted and was most recently worked over by Brian and Mark Gunn. Whether Anderson would be involved is not known.

Martha and Raffaella De Laurentiis are producing through their Dino De Laurentiis Co. shingle along with Lee David Zlotoff.

The show was a hit for ABC, running for seven years, spawning two telepics and a 2003 spinoff, "Young MacGyver," that never got picked up.

As for Wan, the director is starting to climb the ranks of New Line's go-to guys: As Variety first reported, New Line moved "The Conjuring" from its January release date to the heart of summer after test screenings that scored through the roof.

Wan, repped by Paradigm and Stacey Testro Intl., has also gained a reputation as a frugal filmmaker -- something all studios are looking for these days.