8 TV Shows That Are About To Become Movies

Luther is heading to the big screen.

by Danny Meegan
Luther 4
BBC

Comic-books. Video games. Novels. Emojis. Hollywood loves to plunder the depths of absolutely everything on the planet in search of recognisable properties to turn into films, and your favourite TV shows are no exception.

A popular small-screen series has already done all the hard work in terms of attracting a loyal fanbase, and since TV projects tend to have quite restrictive budgets (at least when compared to your average blockbuster), they have to rely on great central hooks and compelling characters - rather than mere spectacle - to draw in an audience.

These traits can make practically any TV show an excellent foundation for a cinematic feature - Mission Impossible, The Fugitive, 21 Jump Street and Serenity all have small-screen roots - so unsurprisingly, there are several movies on the horizon looking to produce a killer adaptation that does the original show justice.

From older series that are being reinvigorated for modern audiences, to more contemporary programmes looking to take their success to the next level, some of the most famous TV shows around are about to scale up in a major way.

8. Dora The Explorer

Dora The Explorer Isabela Moner
Paramount Pictures

Considering that the insanely popular TV show has been around for almost two decades at this point, it's surprising that it's taken this long for Dora The Explorer to get the big-screen treatment.

The 2019 movie will turn the animated show into a live-action blockbuster, with Muppets Most Wanted and Alice Through The Looking Glass director James Bobin at the helm, and the likes of Eva Longoria (Dora's mother), Benicio Del Toro (the villainous Swiper, a fox) and Michael Peña (Dora's father) making up the cast.

The film will also age-up the main character, with Dora - who is seven years old in the show - now a high-school student investigating a lost Inca civilization. Characters like her monkey friend Boots will also be involved, and with filming having wrapped in early December, it shouldn't be too long before we see some official footage.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!