Paramount is developing Hawaii Five-O as a feature film, according to Variety, with Maui-raised filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton developing and directing the project. Chris Bremner and Noah Oppenheim wrote the screenplay, and Guymon Casady is producing after putting the project together with help from the estate of series creator Leonard Freeman.
The project is still early. There is no cast, production date, release date, or announced filming location, and a movie at this stage can still change substantially before cameras ever start rolling. What we do know, however, is the unique pairing of one of television’s most Hawaii-connected properties with a filmmaker who grew up making his first movies on Maui.
Somehow, after nearly 20 years of Beat of Hawaii, we’ve never written about Hawaii Five-O. This seemed like a pretty good reason to start now.
Quick naming note: the original 1968 series was Hawaii Five-O, with the letter O. The 2010 reboot changed the title to Hawaii Five-0, using the numeral zero. Paramount’s announcing its new movie as Hawaii Five-O, returning to the original styling.
The director started making movies on Maui.
Cretton grew up in Haiku and graduated from Maui High School in 1996. He has recalled being in fourth grade when his grandmother brought a VHS camcorder on a family trip. A visit to Universal Studios helped him understand for the first time that the movies he loved were made by real people.
When he returned to Maui, he kept the camcorder. Cretton began filming his siblings, later learned to edit, and shot videos of friends surfing long before filmmaking seemed even remotely like a realistic career.
That career eventually started and included Short Term 12, The Glass Castle, Just Mercy, and Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, followed by Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
His Maui ties have remained, most visibly through Hisako Film Lab, the filmmaking program he created for local students and named for the grandmother who first put that video camera in his hands.
The program gives Maui youth hands-on filmmaking experience and brings working professionals into the process. Its 2026 summer program was free, and Cretton was back on Maui again this year working with students whose films were shown.
Five-0 has always been a Hawaii production.
The original Hawaii Five-O debuted on CBS in 1968 and ran for 12 seasons through 1980, featuring Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett. The Hawaii Film Office records the series as being filmed primarily on Oahu during an era when long-running television production in Hawaii was still unusual.
CBS returned in 2010 with Hawaii Five-O, starring Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan. It lasted another 10 seasons, again filming on Oahu, with the state-owned Hawaii Film Studio at the foot of Diamond Head serving as its production home.
After over 20 seasons, the franchise has a long-standing, physical connection to Oahu that goes beyond a story just set here. Honolulu streets, beaches, government buildings, and neighborhoods repeatedly appeared in what viewers experienced, and the show became part of Hawaii’s film history.
That relationship is becoming more unique since Hawaii locations are no longer guaranteed just because Hawaii is in the title. Disney’s Lilo & Stitch left Kauai for Oahu, while last year’s Jurassic World Rebirth went much farther and left Hawaii out of that franchise long associated with Kauai and Oahu.
The movie’s filming location is still unknown.
Nothing announced so far indicates where the new Hawaii Five-O will be filmed. We also found no listing for it among Hawaii Film Office productions, although at this early stage there’s no reason to assume that tells us much yet. Cretton is attached as Paramount develops the project, so the decision about where production happens could still be a ways out.
Where Paramount decides to shoot will determine whether Hawaii gets any role in the production itself. Both television series were made here, but studios now have plenty of other places that can stand in for a tropical setting, sometimes more cheaply and with fewer logistical complications.
Cretton’s involvement adds another possibility that wasn’t part of either earlier series. The filmmaker shaping this film knows Hawaii from growing up here, not from arriving to scout a location. Yet nothing indicates whether that will influence where the movie is made or what version of Hawaii might appear on screen.
Answers may still be a long way off. We’d especially like to hear from readers who remember either series, saw Hawaii Five-O filming around Oahu, or have a particular Hawaii location forever connected to the show in their hearts: would Five-0 feel the same to you if the movie were made somewhere else?
Lead Photo Credit: © Beat of Hawaii at Aliʻiōlani Hale in Honolulu.
By Rob and Jeff, Beat of Hawaii.
Some of the most meaningful parts of Hawaii are the ones visitors walk right past without knowing they are there. We’ve spent nearly 20 years finding them firsthand for BOH as full-time Hawaii residents reporting on travel, culture, and island life, and telling you what they mean for your trip. Join us →
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