The concept of continuing a film through a television series is by no means a new or unique one. The Terminator, Blade and Highlander series' of the past are just a few of the many examples of franchises that have made this jump. Indeed, even within the last year, television continuations to the Scream series and the film Source Code have been announced by MTV and CBS/ABC respectively. Although in the past these series have so far been largely hit and miss, the increasing quality and budget in the television arena has made a continuation of films in this medium a more attractive idea. In this article I intend to explore other films that would work if they were to be continued on TV...
1. The Departed
The Departed was a 2006 crime film by Martin Scorsese that focused on the cat and mouse chase between a police informer in the Boston criminal underworld and a criminal informer in the police force. Without spoiling too much of this film it is fair to say that it has a clear and definite ending that doesnt leave a lot of room for future sequels. Nevertheless, following the success of the film, sequel plans started to arise with rumours being that a possible second film would focus on Mark Wahlbergs character, Staff Sergeant Dignam, exposing corruption in city hall. While this may still make for an interesting film I cant help but wonder how this might play out on television. I could see this potentially becoming a complex and intelligent crime thriller with multiple plot layers and characters, all anchored by the Dignam character. A show of this nature could become a spiritual successor to the Wire as long as it avoided similar plot lines to season three of that show. Some recasting would probably be required, however, as I cant see Mark Wahlberg committing to a television series at this time. If AMC were wondering how they could replace Breaking Bad after 2013 then this would not be a bad avenue to explore. Plus with 30 Rock ending next season, there's a ready made character for him to reprise here.