Television studios are always putting myriad projects in development that were sourced from different mediums, from novels to comic books to movies. (And former hit TV shows, of course.) That process isn't going to stop anytime soon, either, and just this week alone, there were four announcements involving fan-favorite movies that are heading to TV in different formats, from a spinoff to reimaginings to a TV movie.
So grab your sunglasses and a slightly wrinkled dress shirt and check out some of the things we might be glued to our TVs watching in the future. Let's kick things off by kicking in the bathroom stall door.
The Nice Guys
Following his rise to big-budgetdom with Iron Man 3, Lethal Weapon screenwriter Shane Black returned to the world of "crime capers centered on two dudes that aren't extremely pleased to be working together" with 2016's The Nice Guys. But here's the twist, the Joel Silver-produced TV adaptation will exchange Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling's lead characters for two female characters, and it's supposed to be a "contemporary take," according to Variety, so it will presumably update the 1970s time period.
The Nice Girls, which is its legitimate title, is being set up at Fox, which ordered a script from 30 Minutes or Less screenwriter Michael Diliberti. Fox seems like a natural home for this, as it's where the Lethal Weapon TV adaptation landed. Sadly, Shane Black won't be involved, but here's hoping his storytelling influence will loom large over The Nice Girls if it comes to fruition.
Scanners
While the career of filmmaker David Cronenberg took a sharp turn in the 1990s, he was a horror god through the '70s and '80s with a series of body horror films that were just as mentally disturbing as they were wonderfully disgusting to look at. One standout from that bunch is 1981's Scanners, which went into development years ago to become both a feature remake and a TV series. But now, thanks to the movie rights leaving Dimension Films, Scanners will soon be packaged together with a high-profile filmmaker and showrunner, at which point it will be shopped around to premium networks, according to Deadline. (And streaming studios will presumably be included there.)
Scanners told the story of a group of telekinetic people whose already hampered lives are made worse when their also-telekinetic predecessors are sent to hunt them all down. Arguably most remembered for its shots of people's heads exploding, Scanners deserves an uncensored home, and considering current rights co-holder Michael Ellenberg used to be HBO's former head of drama, it seems likely bound for a prestige home. (Fun fact: David Cronenberg opted out of directing for Season 2 of True Detective, for which Ellenberg oversaw the initial development.)
Hocus Pocus
Back in 1993, Hocus Pocus came out and created a beloved trio of witches out of Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy. For years now, there has been talk of expanding the Sanderson sisters' stories into a full-length sequel or remake, and fans have been as hungry for it as ever. But now we know that it won't be any of those actresses' yabbos that will be seen in a Hocus Pocus follow-up, as the Halloween-friendly film is being retooled as a TV movie.
Consdiering Hocus Pocus was a Disney flick, it's not shocking that Disney Channel is the network developing the remake. Unfortunately, none of the original cast or creators are involved in full, although original producer and story conceiver David Kirschner will return as executive producer. The new film, which will likely also bring three nefarious witches back into modern existence, will be written by Scarlett Lacey, who has written for the E! drama The Royals. Probably not the follow-up fans were waiting for, but here it comes!
What We Do In The Shadows
When a horror-comedy film manages to be just as memorable and effective in both the horror and comedy genres, it's a rarity that's embraced by fans. Joining that upper echelon in 2015 -- at least here in the U.S. -- was the vampire-driven What We Do in the Shadows, which was written and directed by Jemaine Clement and current Thor Ragnarok helmer Taika Waititi. And it looks like TV viewers will possibly get to see a spinoff in 2018.
A TV offshoot has been in the works for years -- not to be confused with the status-unknown big screen spinoff that was dubbed We're Wolves a couple of years ago -- but New Zealand network TVNZ has announced the small-screen follow-up will be part of its upcoming lineup of TV programming, according to the website Stuff. While new information wasn't readily available, it looks like this TV project will stick to the former plan of centering on the two What We Do in the Shadows policemen, and the paranormal activities that gets investigated by New Zealand police. And it sounds like Taika Waititi is involved in the development, so we're definitely biting.
We'll let everyone know more about these impending TV adaptations as they're made available. Until then, though, our fall TV premiere schedule will give audiences a good look at everything coming to the small screen in the near future.
