“Prison Break” ended in 2009 with Wentworth Miller’s lead character Michael Scofield apparently dead. Eight years later, the show’s fifth season is set to premiere. The revival may not have happened if not for “The Flash.”
Miller and co-lead Dominic Purcell, who play brothers on “Prison Break,” were reunited in 2014 when they were cast as villainous duo Captain Cold and Heatwave on the first season of the CW superhero drama.
“That is where Dom and I had our reunion,” Miller said Wednesday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour Wednesday. “Suddenly we were back on set, discussing old times. And out of that conversation came the possibility of revisiting ‘Prison Break.’”
Creator and executive producer Paul T. Scheuring said that the idea for reviving the series then advanced after he and Miller met.
“Wentworth and Dominic talked, and then Wentworth and I had a sit down and reconvened after all the years,” Scheuring said. “We went to a North Hollywood cafe on a busy street and we kind of talked about what it might look like.” Then, according to Scheuring, as they left the restaurant, a car stopped in the middle of the street and several men jumped out. They recognized Miller as “the guy from ‘Prison Break’” and wanted photos.
“That’s the kind of hunger that there is internationally for this show,” he added.
The original order for “Prison Break” season five was 10 episodes. That was later cut to nine. Scheuring said that decision was made due to scheduling limitations.
“We had 15 weeks, 16 weeks to shoot the whole thing,” Scheuring said. “At the end of the day, we just didn’t have enough time for 10 hours. So we conflated two of those episodes into one.”
Having that short a run wouldn’t have been possible when the show premiered a decade ago, Scheuring added.
“The current model for television is really, I think, to the viewer’s benefit,” he said. “You don’t have episode 16 in a 22-episode season where you’re trying to find filler, particularly for a serialized show.”
“Prison Break” season five will premiere April 4.
Source: http://variety.com
