Manny Coto has some experience with being attached to TV shows that have or will transition to the big screen. That’s something we should keep in mind, and which he brings up when discussing the topic of Dexter going on to become a movie. As not to mislead anyone from the start, the discussion sounds very hypothetical at this point, but it was addressed in a recent interview with the Showtime drama’s executive producer and it certainly raises some interesting ideas, or one specifically: Dexter: The Movie?
Coto, whose executive producer credits include 24 and Star Trek: Enterprise, spoke with TV Guide recently about how things left off for Dexter and what may be ahead for the series. The conversation includes talk about the big reveal at the end of the series’ sixth season, which I’ll refrain from mentioning, for the sake of those of you who aren’t caught up on the series. Beyond that, the discussion leads to talk of what’s ahead further down the line for Michael C. Hall’s serial-killing character Dexter. Showtime has Hall and the show locked in for two more seasons, but from what Coto says, the creators aren’t necessarily setting up an exit strategy for the series. What’s more, a movie could be a possibility...
"We're not really looking at an end game right now," says Coto. "In a way, it's almost like every season is a form of an end game. This season could've been an end to Dexter, setting it up for the movies, for example. So every season kind of comes to it's own conclusion and can be a sort of end game."
While the above seems like a hint at something bigger for Dexter down the line, Coto clarifies that movie-talk is all just speculation, stating...
"I've heard nothing about it. I'm actually just projecting from my own experience on 24, where at the end we weren't going to kill Jack Bauer. We were going to leave him open because down the road there might be a movie. And sure enough, there's a movie coming."
There is indeed a 24 movie in the works, which will continue the story of Jack Bauer and hopefully give us more closure to the character than the series did. The Fox drama ended its eighth and final season with Jack Bauer on the run from the law. Is that something the Dexter writers might be toying with for an ending to Dexter? If so, a big screen follow up would certainly be in order.
Given that Dexter airs on the pay-cable channel Showtime, which allows for the kind of violence and other R-rated material that wouldn’t really work for network television, it’s hard to really see the huge advantages to a transition to movie. At least, not in the way that 24 could benefit from it, however, it would be interesting to see the series adapted to film for its conclusion. While the idea of it seems to be completely hypothetical at this point, the idea is out there...
