Every storytelling medium has its strengths and weaknesses. Books contain insights and inner dialogue that enrich a story through added detail and context. Movies elevate words from a script and give them a visual dimension, but are confined to roughly two hours of presentation. Television takes those same strengths and stretches out a story across several episodes (and, in some case, seasons). Indeed, this is why the miniseries is a popular format for many television stories.
In the best case, a good television show can deliver payoffs built on hours of emotional and dramatic depth. Those moments of payoff, done well, can heighten a story’s resonance with its audience in an incredible way. As such, some stories that have been put to the big screen might have flourished even more in a television setting. In these cases, a handful of episodes and more careful attention to plot details may have a staggering effect on a story’s quality. Here are seven movies that should be remade for television, and why.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
7 Eragon
Dune Entertainment
The acclaimed fantasy series by Christopher Paolini was a young adult favorite in the last decade. One botched attempt at a live-action adaptation later, and the series appeared to be forgotten by visual creators looking for stories to adapt; according to Bookstacked, Disney recently passed on an Eragon remake. Nevertheless, Eragon and its three sequel books describe a well-realized vision of a fantasy world complete with magic, dragons, and medieval-style warfare. A television series would give this story room to breathe, and allow each of its impactful moments to be drawn out and given the space to thrive.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
6 The Fundamentals of Caring
Based on the novel The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, Netflix’s film The Fundamentals of Caring is a cut above the average indie coming-of-age drama that graces the big screen every couple of years. This is partially due to the comedic duo of Paul Rudd and Craig Roberts, who make this story a delight. The story begins with Ben, a down-on-his-luck caregiver who comes into the care of Trevor, a teenager suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. As the two embark on a risky journey across the United States, both of them have to confront the emotional roadblocks that hold them back from living freely. The film speeds through each stop on their road trip while the novel takes its time, and a television adaptation might recreate the novel’s success at exploring these intimate moments better.
5 The Ritual
The Imaginarium
Another film based on a novel, The Ritual is one of the best folk horror films in recent memory. The film follows a group of men who wander unknowingly into the territory of an ancient horror in the Swedish mountains. Most of the first and second acts of the film are set in the forest of these mountains, as the group encounters a series of unsettling disturbances that become paranormal in nature. Though the film is tightly told, this middle section must proceed with haste for the film to reach its climactic third act. A television horror story in the same setting, where the dread of what lies in the forest could become the bulk of several episodes, would sustain the story’s creepy atmosphere, and deliver a more intense conclusion.
4 The Shining
Peregrine Productions
Yes, The Shining is another movie adapted from a novel, but in this case, the source material and its adaptation could not be more different, as outlined by Cinemablend. Stanley Kubrick’s film tells the tale of an unstoppable evil force corrupting a family trapped in an expansive hotel during its winter off-season. Stephen King’s novel, on the other hand, gives much more agency to these characters and describes the source of evil as an internal conflict in the protagonist. A television show could theoretically present a more thorough exploration of either approach, or could even combine the two to great effect. The Overlook Hotel is so iconically vast and mysterious that a longer-form story would benefit greatly from the established aesthetic.
3 The Truman Show
Paramount Pictures
The Truman Show is a movie about a man realizing his whole life exists on a television set for the pleasure of an unseen audience. Although the story has been told once and told very well in that medium, a television adaptation presents the opportunity for the story to include new meta-textual commentary on the nature of the television medium. In the many years since its release, media has evolved by leaps and bounds — even the clairvoyant voice behind the film couldn’t have predicted today’s media on TikTok and other social platforms. Andrew Niccol was the genius behind this film’s script, and one could imagine that he might have a lot to say about the evolution of media since the release of The Truman Show.
2 Interstellar
Warner Bros.
Interstellar packs a lot of plot into its nearly three-hour runtime, and contains enough depth that the film is practically begging to be remade into a longer form. Between a blight that poisons Earth’s plant ecosystem, a NASA in shambles following government reorganization, a journey through space, and the meeting of other-dimensional beings, it’s easy to wonder if packing this much content into a film was wise to begin with. A television adaptation, possibly in the form of a limited miniseries, could add a lot of depth to those individual plot points which feel half-baked in the film. The series of dramatic reveals in the film’s last act would each benefit from longer time spent in the setup and execution stages.
1 Inside Out
Disney / Pixar
In a stroke of brilliance, Disney is moving forward with plans for a sequel series to 2016’s Moana. Between this and their investment in other television properties, it’s time to revisit some of Disney’s biggest hits in recent memory and consider some television adaptations! Inside Out’s greatest strengths, in creating a heartfelt exploration of youth and mental health, would be a welcome addition to a television setting. Give audiences more time with Riley’s internal life and create more complexity with the mixing of emotions. Let the creators go into further detail describing the confluence of factors that create emotional depth. Each scene in Inside Out is so vibrant and well-animated, its only drawback is the relatively quick pace of the film itself.
