10 Movies You Didn't Know Are Becoming TV Shows
All you favourites - at eight times the length!
Despite the fact that right now is considered to be "the golden age of television," in which original shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad and Mad Men have thrived and cemented themselves as some of the best works of fiction ever, networks are still looking to Hollywood for inspiration. Surely it should be the other way around?
Either out of fear of green-lighting an original show or because they believe that an established movie adapted to TV is more likely to bring in the ratings, networks are still knocking on Hollywood's door and saying: "Hey, do you mind if we use that?"
Sometimes it works, of course, and you end up with something as brilliantly original as Fargo - a show that takes its cues from a well-established film but isn't afraid to do its own thing in the process. Or it can go the other way and you get My Big Fat Greek Life. Yeah, less said about that the better.
What follows, then, are 10 famous movies that you probably didn't know are on their way to becoming fully-fledged TV shows. No joke - these are all really happening.
Will they succeed, or fall by the wayside? It's tough to predict how this might pan out, of course, though it's safe to say that some of the shows mentioned here look like they might have what it takes to give audiences at least one satisfying season. On the other hand, there are some that seem... well, kind of doomed.
10. The Beach
Alex Garland's critically acclaimed novel, The Beach, caused quite a stir upon its first release; both a thrilling adventure and a scathing criticism of backpacker culture, it was later made into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Danny Boyle, the acclaimed filmmaker behind movies such as Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire.
The movie adaptation was met with mixed reviews, though, and is generally regarded as something of a misfire and a wasted opportunity (it missed the point of the book and Leonardo DiCaprio proved to be near on insufferable as protagonist Richard).
Fox announced plans to adapt The Beach as a TV series back in 2012, then, and though not much else has been heard about it since, it's assumed to still be in development. Andrew Miller, who penned the supernatural drama The Secret Circle, is set to write the adaptation.
Is It A Good Idea? There's no harm in trying, and the premise - a bunch of people try to build a new society on a tropical island - seems ripe for the television format. Kind of like a less confusing Lost.