The Terminal List has been a very popular Amazon Prime Video show since its debut, landing another number 1 win for its lead Chris Pratt on the streamer. While we’ve seen some BTS looks at the making of the series, as well as heard from Pratt himself about the “no Hollywood bullshit” approach to making The Terminal List, he more recently shared his actual pitch video for the streaming drama, and I totally see how it got scooped up.
We first started hearing that Pratt was interested in The Terminal List in April of 2020, but from the looks of the video, it seems he was busy selling the concept as early as February of that year. There’s actually video footage of Chris Pratt sharing his vision for the drama, which he posted to Instagram:
That's a pretty effective pitch, and I totally see how this story sold gave those involved a good reason to get this made. If you can’t throw it on, a confident Chris Pratt opens up his pitch by noting The Terminal List would be “the very best show on television” before going into meeting with his Navy SEAL buddy Jared Shaw, who in turn introduced him to the creator of James Reece Jack Carr. He also explains how the character fell into his lap thanks to another connection he already had with Jared Shaw, who also appeared in The Tomorrow War.
Originally, Jack [Carr] and Jared [Shaw] thought that this would be a really great film, but I think it’s better suited to television. I love what people are doing on TV now. I love that you can spend 10 hours telling a story rather than an hour and a half. It’s a reinvention for myself.
Chris Pratt is not a Hollywood actor with a stigma when it comes to television. In fact, some of Pratt's best roles have been on television, with the actor having appeared in Everwood and --yes!-- on The O.C. before becoming a household name playing Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation. Of course, The Terminal List is a very different beast than those shows, and his action-oriented movie gigs probably gave him more of the needed experience to pull the role off.
He's spoken specifically about Zero Dark Thirty's influence on The Terminal List, though he absolutely says he's under no illusions he could perform the work needed to become a real Navy SEAL.
In fact, it’s worth noting on the film side of things, Pratt previously did well with The Tomorrow War on Amazon Prime Video, though in that case he was helped along by some viral headlines of J.K. Simmons totally getting jacked for the gig. Whatever reason that movie popped, the team is also coming back for a sequel, and we’ll get you details on The Tomorrow War 2 as they break.
Overall, after a but of a break to make big budget movies, it seems his gambit to get back into the television game has paid off. There's no word yet on The Terminal List 2, but the nice thing about playing James Reece is that Jack Carr has already written plenty of other stories about the character. We'll keep you in the loop as soon as Amazon decides what, if anything, is next.
