Dax Shepard will write, direct and star in the CHiPS movie for Warner Bros., which will also star Michael Pena.

Dax Shepard's 'CHiPS' Movie

Shepard is turning the erstwhile CHiPS TV series into a movie in which he’ll play Officer Jon Baker opposite Michael Pena’s Frank “Ponch" Poncherello, reported Deadline. In the NBC TV series created by Rick Rosner that ran from 1977-1983, Larry Wilcox played Jon Baker and Erik Estrada played Ponch. The series followed the two khaki-clad officers as they patrolled California highways on motorcycles.

Shepard’s Primate Pictures is producing the film with Andrew Panay, while Rosner, who oversaw 139 episodes of the original series, will be onboard as an executive producer.

CHiPS will be following in the footsteps of other TV shows from that era that were eventually transferred to the big screen – including The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) and Starsky and Hutch (2004). That 70s Show actor Wilmer Valderamma, who wanted to play Ponch in a CHiPS movie, tried to get the movie made about a decade ago but the project never got off the ground.

The CHiPs movie, unlike Starsky and Hutch, won’t be going the pure comedy route. Instead, Shepard’s take is said to be “in the tone of Bad Boys and Lethal Weapon,” according to Deadline.