Frankie Muniz breaks silence on key cast member being replaced in Malcolm in the Middle reboot

The reboot of the beloved TV show Malcolm in the Middle has been confirmed, but with one key cast member not set to return.

Debuting back in 2000, the show featured a cast including Bryan Cranston before his Breaking Bad days, as well as Frankie Muniz as the titular Malcolm.

It followed the trials and tribulations of Malcolm Wilkerson as he navigated the choppy waters of teenager-dom along with his parents Lois and Hal and his siblings Reese, Francis, Dewey, and Jamie.

Now, the show has been confirmed to be returning with the reboot expected to premiere in 2026.

In the updated version, we will see Malcolm grown up and getting back together with his siblings to mark their parents' 40th wedding anniversary.

While many of the original cast are returning in the four episode long reboot, one key actor is giving it a miss.

Erik Per Sullivan will miss the reboot (Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic)

Star Frankie Muniz is among those who will be returning, and spoke to the New York Post about Erik Per Sullivan missing the reboot.

Muniz, 39, told the outlet: “He’s very happy in the life that he’s created outside of the entertainment world.

“And he made the decision that he didn’t want to get back into it — which we completely respect.”

The star, who has since gone on to have a career as a racing driver, added that they had consulted with Per Sullivan about recasting his role.

He said: “We had his blessing from day one to have the role be in the show and recast it. So I hope people aren’t too upset that he didn’t come back, but it was by his choice.”

So who will be replacing Per Sullivan as Dewey?

Muniz has gone on to become a racing driver (Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, who has starred in Fargo and The Expanse, will be stepping into the role.

“We started talking about doing the reboot over ten years ago,” Muniz said. “And then Bryan Cranston really kind of took the lead in pushing it. But early on, we sent out an email, me and Bryan, to everybody kind of saying like, ‘Hey, if this happened, would you guys be interested?’ Just to gauge.”

“And we knew early on that Erik was not going to be apart of it,” Muniz added.

Muniz also opened up about his decision to become a racing driver, saying: “I had only acted since I was eight. So eight to 22. It’s all I knew. I loved it — but I also knew that I wanted to try something else."