We live in a golden age for the audiovisual. Entertainment-oriented productions are more popular than ever. Part of this recipe for success comes from the harmonious conversation that cinema has today with TV. Before, different and rival media, the two come together with the arrival of the internet, mixing everything in a cauldron of infinite possibilities. Proof of this is the two-way street of ideas, artists and productions that move from TV to cinema and vice versa. Series like game of Thrones showed that the current TV is nothing small, and can even be much bigger than most films for the cinema.
The media pays homage, and if in the past we had adaptations of famous series for the big screen (a segment that remains operational and profitable), now the small screen repays the affection by adapting cinematographic works in its format, see Westworld and Stranger Things (great homage to 1980s movies). With that in mind, based on an article by our colleagues at Digital Spy, we’ve formulated a new list. Taking this idea and showing that this junction doesn’t always work well, we gathered some TV series based on cult films, whose life was so short that they weren’t even produced. Many of them you probably haven’t even heard of. So, don’t write it down in your notebook and try to find these gems online (if any) at your own risk.
Wait, you say. The series fargo exists and is one of the big winners of awards aimed at TV (see Golden Globe and Emmy) since its launch. Take it easy, kid. Before the anthology series, produced by the brothers themselves Coen, and released in 2014 (this year is showing up a lot around here, isn’t it?), a TV show based on the Oscar-nominated film was produced. Or almost. The following year, in 1997, a pilot was recorded and featured the same characters as the feature. Edie Falco (before the premiere of Soprano family) played Sheriff Marge Gunderson, a role for which Frances McDormand won her Oscar for best actress, and Bruce Bohne reprising his role as Officer Lou. The brothers Coen, however, had nothing to do with the production. Interestingly, the pilot episode was directed by the Oscar-winning actress, Kathy Bates (crazy obsession). Watch the episode below:
Hellraiser – Hell Reborn (1987)
There have been mentions for years of a new guise for the horror classic by Clive Barker fill the hearts of fans with excitement. But the day to revive one of the most interesting works of the genre never seems to come. In 2012, production company Sonar Television announced its plans to bring the work of barker to the small screen, with the promise that actors from the original films would return. Hellraiser It’s a franchise whose first three films are the only ones that truly deliver, even though their quality declines with each episode of the trilogy.
After that, numerous sequels were produced straight for the video market. Stewart Till, the president of Sonar Television even made statements about the alleged excellence of the series, claiming that the chasm between a great series and a just ok one was growing – obviously, his aspiration was for the first category. Until today the pilot was never shot, and Clive Barkerwisely, steered clear of everything in regards to the series. barker plans a film version that will forget all sequels and pick up where his 1987 film left off.
A lot of people don’t know, but the movie A Heavyweight Cop was initially thought of as an action vehicle for the star Sylvester Stallone. Once Sly gave up on the project, opting soon after for Snake (1986), one of LIFE’s greatest guilty pleasures, the production received comedy and satire paints, falling into the lap of Eddie Murphy and becoming the first, and one of the biggest hits of the comedian’s career. Two sequels later (the second, well despised), and Axel Foley looked retired for good. But hey, 20 years later the funny policeman, in the ways of Murphy, resurfaces for the pilot of a series. And that was the big problem, according to him.
the series of Beverly Hills Copthe film’s original title, would center on Foley’s son Aaron, played by Brandon T. Jackson (tropical Thunder), and Murphy made only one appearance in the pilot episode. When the producers watched the first episode, they were more than excited about the veteran comedian’s appearance, wanting the actor to be a recurring character on the series. Murphy cordially declined, due to his schedule (really? What have they been up to lately?). Thus, A Heavyweight Copthe series, was only in the first episode – surprisingly directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (from the trilogy Men in Black).
Young production loved by the 1990s generation, what many probably don’t know is that Second Intentions was freely inspired by the classic literature Dangerous Liaisons, tirelessly produced by various media, such as films and theater – one of the best known being a homonymous film from 1988, with Michelle Pfeiffer. Despite the cult status, Second thoughts it was not, so to speak, a great success with the public or critics. The film spawned two sequels, from 2000 and 2004, the first being directed by the same Roger Kumble of the original and starring Amy Adams5-time Oscar-nominated actress.
Last year, a series that would function as a continuation of the 1999 feature (and not as a reboot of the story) almost took off. A pilot episode was shot, written and directed by kumble and with Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising the role of kisser Kathryn Merteuil from the film, eighteen years later, now in her late 40s. Reese Whitherspoonon the other hand, remained distant from the project, and her character was played by Kate Leveringthe Kim Kaswell of the series Drop Dead Diva (2009 – 2014). The plot would center on the manipulations of the character of gellar, particularly in relation to his nephew Bash, as he tried to gain control of the family company, Valmont International. The actress even published a photo of the character in a bathtub on social media – which you can check out below. A feather. But we want to see this pilot!
One Day the House Falls (The Money Pit, 1986)
Classic of the Afternoon Session of my generation, this film is produced by none other than Steven Spielberg and his Amblin Entertainment (director’s production company). Interestingly, no one talks about comedy anymore these days. It is true that the film is not one of the most memorable in the careers of the director and the protagonists. Tom Hanks and Shelley Long (then fresh out of the TV hit cheers – 1982 to 1993). The plot tells about a newly married couple and the misadventures they go through to renovate their big new house. Trying to give new air to the idea, the NBC network began to develop the series based on the feature, with a script written by Justin Spitzer (The Office) and produced by Amblin TV, from the same Spielberg. A pilot was ready to start shooting in 2014, but due to problems with the cast, it had to be stopped. Three years later and the series remains stagnant.
Cult par excellence, this thriller with supernatural doses divided audiences and critics at the time of its release, precisely because it did not decide between a plausible path or a horror with fantastic elements. Be that as it may, today the production is revered as a cult work by new generations. Hey, we got a lot of good stuff to get out of here. First, Al Pacino taken in malice and in the maximum madness. Second, one of the muse’s first prominent roles Charlize Theron, who already showed talent. Third, a Connie Nielsen equally inspired, deliciously seductive and malevolent. In 2014, the same NBC ordered a pilot for the series that would be based on the film directed by Taylor Hackford (ray), and written by Matt Vennescreenwriter of expendable horror sequels, vide lights from beyond (2007), Mirrors of Fear 2 (2010) and the hour of amazement 2 (2013). Filming, however, did not even take place. Maybe they looked at the script. It would be a case of hiring someone more talented.
Generation X (1996)
Long before this wave of productions of the subgenre of superheroes that devastated the world, whether on TV or in cinema, such ideas were completely ostracized in the 1990s. One of the most notorious cases occurred with Generation X, a pilot that intended to bring Marvel’s (secondary) mutants to the small screens on a weekly basis. Before X-Men (2000) kick off a subgenre that has no time to end, characters from team B from the same universe aimed for a place in the sun.
The initial 1h30min episode was released in Brazil and around the world as a made-for-TV movie. I had the opportunity (and the displeasure) to watch this gem at the time and understand a little why investors jumped out. In the plot, Emma Frost (Finola Hughes) and Banshee (Jeremy Ratchford) were sometimes Professor Xavier in charge of the school and the young mutants. Among the students, Jubilee (Heather McComb) was one of the protagonists. No Wolverine, Mystique or Magneto. A curiosity is that the same location used for the mutant mansion was later reused in the movies. And they say that nothing good has taken advantage of Generation X…
Wonder Woman was one of the biggest successes of this first half of the year and the salvation of DC in cinema. However, before the worldwide phenomenon, the character was a failure on the small screen. Following in the footsteps of the series starring the stunning Linda Carter (which lasted from 1975 to 1979), the heroine made a comeback in 2011, in the forms of the unlucky Adrianne Palicki (G.I. Joe – Retaliation). Wearing pants instead of shorts or skirt, the heroine’s attire was worse than a cospor. In addition, she brought a cooler version of Diana Prince, inserted in the modern world as a businesswoman, owner of a large corporation. Something similar to what was conquered in supergirl, with Kara inserted in a credible job market. The images of palicki uniformed are scattered throughout the network. Already the pilot episode, maybe you need luck to find.
