Paramount Pictures could finally be taking Hawaii Five-O from its iconic television roots to the big screen, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton attached to develop and direct the movie. The classic CBS crime series has long carried the kind of built-in mythology studios love, from its unmistakable theme to its sun-soaked Hawaiian setting. Now, a filmmaker coming off one of Hollywood’s biggest superhero franchises could be the person to give that mythology a cinematic reset.

But if Paramount really wants to turn that old-school television DNA into a movie franchise, the question is not whether Hawaii Five-O can work on the big screen. It is whether the right filmmaker can make Hawaii itself feel like a character again.

According to a Deadline exclusive, Paramount Pictures is developing a potential Hawaii Five-O movie with Destin Daniel Cretton leading the project. Cretton is set to develop the film with an eye toward directing, while Chris Bremner, known for Bad Boys for Life, is attached to write the screenplay alongside Noah Oppenheim, the writer behind Jackie. The studio had no comment, and the project is still in the early stages, but the pieces suggest Paramount is already assembling a serious creative team around the property.

Deadline reports that the wave is only beginning to build momentum, which makes the timing fascinating. The original Hawaii Five-O, created by Leonard Freeman, premiered on CBS in 1968 and ran until 1980, with Jack Lord playing Steve McGarrett, the no-nonsense head of a state police task force in Hawaii. Even now, the series has two pieces of cinematic shorthand that are almost impossible to separate from the title: Morton Stevens’ instantly recognizable theme and the sweeping tropical vistas that made Honolulu and the surrounding islands part of the show’s visual identity. 

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A movie could turn those ingredients into something considerably larger, particularly if Paramount sees franchise possibilities in the crime-procedural engine beneath the nostalgia.

Daniel Cretton is arriving at Hawaii Five-O at a very different point in his career than when he first broke through with the intimate drama Short Term 12. He followed that acclaimed film with The Glass Castle before making the leap into Marvel territory with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. That film demonstrated his ability to take character-driven material and scale it into spectacle without losing the emotional architecture underneath.

Now, Spider-Man: Brand New Day represents an even bigger test of that blockbuster muscle. Cretton directed the latest chapter in the Spider-Man franchise, putting him in the center of one of Sony’s most valuable cinematic properties and working with returning stars Tom Holland and Zendaya. That combination gives the director something Hawaii Five-O could benefit from enormously: experience making familiar IP feel contemporary rather than simply repainting it.

There is also a natural connection between Cretton’s sensibilities and the potential of this material. Hawaii Five-O does not need to become another generic action franchise with a recognizable title pasted over it. The strongest version could preserve the procedural spine while making the islands, local atmosphere and complicated geography of the setting integral to the storytelling. 

If Paramount gets the formula right, the famous theme could eventually announce something much bigger than another nostalgia play: a new crime franchise with an entire Pacific setting at its disposal.

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What do you think about Destin Daniel Cretton bringing Hawaii Five-O to the big screen? Share your thoughts in the comments.