Music, Style & Culture

Movies To TV - Which Films Would Work?

We consider the famous films that should be adapted for the small screen.

With a television sequel series to The Firm debuting this month, and the news of a Goodfellas adaptation on the small screen, we look at the huge amount of movies we have available and which concepts would be viable for a TV remake/sequel.

Adaptations are always a risky business, with existing fanbases always ready to pounce at the first hint of change. Books seem to be the current favourite to utilise, with True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle proving to be hits, as well as the graphic novel horror story The Walking Dead.

It's hard to decide just why something should be continued in one way or another. Take Star Wars for example - most people love the original trilogy, hate the prequels, and the other media like books, games and the Clone Wars TV series do well enough. There's also a live action show coming sometime this decade which we recently received an update about here. There's a huge wealth of subject matter to deal with without having to trash the originals that inspire it.



BATMAN

The timing could not be more perfect. After the popularity of the Christopher Nolan movie trilogy, and the ending of Smallville, there is a huge gap left that could be filled by a weekly live-action Batman television show. If you know your Batman, you'll know that there were numerous references over the 10 seasons of Smallville, and why not try to mould a show in the same vein as the latter few comic-heavy seasons? The big screen Batman deserves a rest for a while, but the character remains as popular as ever, so this could be the ideal way to carry it on. It certainly doesn't need to be camp like the '60s show, as proven by the numerous cartoons like Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, and the Smallville writers eventually proved that you can have a good balance between teen drama and comic book relevance. I would certainly be far more interested in this than a rush back to Hollywood for our Dark Knight.



GHOST WORLD

Unless you know your graphic novels very well, you probably won't be overly familiar with Daniel Clowes' story about two quirky girls and their views on the world. You might be more aware of the 2001 movie adaptation starring Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi. That particular movie still remains one of my favourites to this day, but more than anything I love Clowes' characters. I think the wit and cynicism of the leads would carry tremendous worth on a TV show, and it could be a perfect 6-13 episode show to produce. It's not very often I like the idea of my most-loved works being tampered with, but Ghost World is a much-forgotten piece that deserves a piece of the limelight again. With networks like HBO and Showtime on the up, I would definitely trust one of them with it.



JAMES BOND

If there was ever a time where a James Bond TV show could be done justice, with the necessary budgets and special effects, it would be now. It doesn't have to step on the toes of the continuing adventures of Daniel Craig, but act more like a companion piece about the younger James. Shows like Alias have shown that twists and turns can be not only believable, but successfully sustained over a number of years. 24 had the best anti-hero in Jack Bauer, and practically gave us a mini-movie every week. Looking back to a similar case, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles were a critical success in the 1990s, and we have moved on significantly since then in terms of we can produce. With the right people involved, it could be a worthy addition to the Bond franchise, and a nice boost to the British industry.



THE GODFATHER

Woah woah woah, calm down. I can hear the cries of "nooooooooooo" already. Just hear me out - the Godfather trilogy, specifically the first two movies, will always be up there with the best for me and I wouldn't want to ruin them. Yet when I'm watching shows like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire, I can't help but have ideas on how good a Godfather adaptation would be these days. Period pieces are produced to an exceptional level now, with a stunning level of detail and a real effort to put you right there in the time. I'm sure there's enough ideas left untouched from the Godfather books to adapt in some way. Something set in that world would be really special and a sight to behold. With the aforementioned Boardwalk Empire already a success on air, perhaps it's too late for this idea to thrive.



BACK TO THE FUTURE

I might as well annoy every loyal fanbase while I'm writing this article, right? It's more the concept I'm interested in than touching any of the original cast and storylines. This would be more of an extension of the BTTF universe, much like the cartoon in 1991 which dealt with alternate timelines. Shows like Quantum Leap, Sliders and Journeyman have had very clever storylines about time travel, but there's no story and concept I enjoy more than Back To The Future. Over the past two years we've seen a Blu-ray release of the original trilogy, some new video games developed, and even replica Nike trainers made for charity. The BTTF franchise is hotter than it has been for years and, if treated with care, I'm sure this could be successful.

Agree? Disagree? Have any ideas of your own? Share them below in the comments.