Filming starts on new ‘Magnum, P.I.’

State officials are hoping Hawaii will be the stage for another hit television show as a pilot for the reboot of “Magnum, P.I.” gets underway.

The remake of a classic 1980s television show is being filmed on Oahu over the next few weeks to potentially be picked up as a CBS series, Beth Haiken, CBS Corp. vice president, told the Honolulu Star-­Advertiser. The company held a blessing attended by Gov. David Ige to commence filming this week at the Hawaii Film Studio at Diamond Head.

“This is the first time in history that we have had potentially two television shows that are shooting Hawaii for Hawaii. And not only that, these are iconic shows,” said state Film Commissioner Donne Dawson.

“Magnum, P.I.,” starring Tom Selleck in the original series, ran from 1980 to 1988. In the reboot, Jay Hernandez, known for his role in “Suicide Squad,” will play lead character Thomas Magnum, a former Navy SEAL turned private investigator. British actress Perdita Weeks has also been tapped as the female lead, Juliet Higgins, taking the place of Jonathan Higgins in the original show, according to Deadline Hollywood. Canadian TV and film writer Peter Lenkov, who also produces “Hawaii Five-0,” is executive producer.

“They’re filming the ‘Magnum’ pilot using the same ‘Five-0’ people. There were a lot of people who may have wondered whether ‘Hawaii Five-0’ could’ve pulled off a reboot of ‘Hawaii Five-0,’” Dawson said. “I don’t think they’re asking that question now because they did a stellar job of reintroducing that iconic show to today’s generation and a whole new audience of ‘Five-o’ viewers that weren’t even born when the original show was airing.”

The original ‘Five-0’ series ran from 1968 to 1980. The reboot is in its eighth season of production. Season 9 has not been officially announced.

“We’re working to bring more television series to Hawaii because they create year-round employment,” Ige said in a statement. “TV shows such as ‘Hawaii Five-0’ and ‘Magnum, P.I.’ form the backbone of the film industry in Hawaii, creating hundreds of jobs and a solid workforce.”

A typical series production like “Hawaii Five-0” pumps about $80 million annually in direct spending into the economy and roughly $140 million in overall economic activity, Dawson said. A typical show employs between 250 and 300 full-time equivalent positions.

“People are hopeful for sure. If ‘Magnum’ does get picked up, this will be unprecedented for the film industry in Hawaii to have the reintroduction of two iconic shows in production side by side at the same,” Dawson said. “When you think about what the original shows of ‘Magnum, P.I.’ and ‘Hawaii Five-0’ have done for Hawaii’s reputation and notoriety and just our visitor industry, these are shows that put Hawaii on the map. (They) opened the world’s eyes to the Hawaiian Islands, our people, our community, our culture.”