Cryptic clues, hardened criminals, characters that died and then resurfaced. A brother incorrectly sentenced to life in prison, a second brother determined to do the impossible and break him out – with the blueprints of the prison tattoeed on his body. This was the world of Prison Break, the five-series smash hit Fox TV show, which concluded once and for all in 2017.
Over the years, critics described Prison Break as "dumb but kinda fun", "trash genius", and "ridiculous"; "It makes no sense, but it's watchable because you need to find out answers," said one reviewer. "The tension ratcheted up is unbearable. Even on repeat viewing, sweat envelopes me," said another.
Given the show's reputation for high-drama and accidental hilarity, it's no wonder that fans were sent into raptures this week with the news that a Prison Break reboot is on officially the cards. The show will not be following the story of Michael and Lincoln, but will be set in the same world. Here's everything we know.
What's it going to be about?
The finer details about the news series' plot haven't been shared yet, but it's clear that it will be a brand new chapter rather than a straight forward reboot featuring the same characters – and after the original storyline was stretched across five long series, which aired between 2005 and 2017, that can surely only be a good thing.
Sources told Deadline that the new series will be "set in the world of Prison Break", but it hasn't been confirmed whether this means in the mid-Noughties when the original four series were set, in Illinois, the location of the fictional Fox River State Penitentiary, or both.
Where and when is Prison Break going to come out?
The new series will premiere on Hulu. The spin-off show in its early development stages, so as of now there's no release date.
Will we be able to watch it in the UK?
We don't know yet, but it's very likely: a lot of Hulu titles, such as The Kardashians and The Bear, are added to Disney+.
Who is the team behind the new series?
The new series is going to be written and executive produced by Elgin James, the award-winning American filmmaker who co-created the hit crime drama Mayans M.C (2018-2023) and the British crime-comedy The Outlaws (which started in 2021 and has a third season out next year).
The original series' showrunner, Paul Scheuring, is onboard as an executive producer, as are Dawn Olmstead, Marty Adelstein and Neal Moritz, who were also the executive producers on the original show.
Just how big was Prison Break?
Prison Break was a massive hit, with more than 10 million people tuning in to watch its first season in 2005. For comparison, 13.6 million people turned in to watch the finale of Game of Thrones in 2019.
But the series wasn't able to sustain these impressive viewing numbers: Prison Break's second series pulled in around 9 million viewers, its third series saw around 7 million people tune in, and its fourth series pulled in approximately 6 million. By the fifth series, just 3.5 million people watched Michael and Lincoln plan their last mind-boggling scheme.
