Last night marked the debut of FX's Fargo, a television series adapted from the classic 1996 crime movie by the Coen Brothers. Turning a movie into a television series is nothing new (Parenthood, About a Boy and From Dusk Till Dawn are three such transplants currently running on screens across the U.S.), but given the combination of positive critical response to *Fargo'*s pilot, excitement around HBO's True Detective and television's insatiable hunger for shows, it's a fair bet that we'll be seeing more crime dramas adapted from critically acclaimed indie movies sooner rather than later.
With that in mind, here are some suggestions for other movies that deserve the Fargo treatment—along with suggestions for who could step into the shoes of actors who have likely moved on to bigger blockbuster roles, and what, if any, the roadblocks could be for turning it into serialized television. (A pre-emptive note: For those hoping to see mention of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Out of Sight, they've already been made into TV shows. Failed ones.)
A Simple Plan -------------
The Job: Sam Raimi's 1998 story about the discovery of a plane wreck and the bag of unmarked bills contained therein might have seemed like Fargo Lite at the time (blame the Minnesota setting), but there's no reason a comedy of paranoid errors can't be drawn out over 13 episodes if done right. Just imagine how many people might have to be murdered to keep the secret along the way!
The Crew: The original starred Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton as brothers who discovered the money. Let's go for Donal Logue and Deadbeat's Tyler Labine, instead. They already look related, right?
The Catch: In order to escape renewed Fargo comparisons, it'd make sense to change the setting of the series to somewhere else in the U.S. But where else offers the chance for small-town intrigue and comedy without offending large swaths of the country?
Chopper -------
The Job: This 2000 biography of Mark "Chopper" Read brought Eric Bana to American audience's attention, leading to a career as a forgotten Bruce Banner and passive-aggressive Star Trek villain Nero. But Bana is impressive as Read, a murderer who successfully created his own reputation by writing a memoir about his time in the Melbourne underworld. Think of a TV version as a more violent, less amusing Orange Is the New Black. With Australian accents.
The Crew: Given his ability to show up in almost everything when you least expect it, Alan Dale would have to be given a plum role. Once Upon A Time's Emilie de Ravin, another Australian soap refugee, should also expect to be called up, as would House M.D.'s Jesse Spencer. What I'm saying is, just trawl the casts of Neighbours and Home and Away.
The Catch: Read might have spent some time in the outside world between his two jail sentences, but showrunners are still facing down the barrel of severe prison fatigue. We might be needing a jail-break around Season 3, guys.
Hard Eight ----------
The Job: Director Paul Thomas Anderson's movie debut, 1997's Hard Eight was a particularly noir-tinged story of small-time crooks, a kidnapping gone wrong, and a particularly unfortunate romance that (of course) leads to trouble. Instead of simply retelling the same story as a television show, Hard Eight the series could build a community of similarly unlucky schmoes trapped in a world full of double-crosses and hidden secrets.
The Crew: The movie featured an amazing line-up: John C. Reilly, Samuel L. Jackson, and Philip Baker Hall (not to mention Gwyneth Paltrow). Television budgets being what they are, let's go for Chris Meloni, Terry Crews, and George Segal instead.
The Catch: In order for the show to keep the same nihilistic edge as the movie, would it become even more dour than Mad Men at its worst? And if so, would people still want to tune in?
In Bruges ---------
The Job: Let's just call this 2008 movie Colin Farrell's finest moment and be done with it. Two Irish hitmen go into hiding in Bruges (hence the title) after the accidental death of a young boy, with one of the two secretly tasked with the assassination of the other as punishment for the death. Despite that synopsis, it's actually a surprisingly funny movie (if dark as all get-out), and a set-up that could easily sustain a longer series.
The Crew: The hitmen should be a double act of a grizzled veteran and a nervous rookie. Can someone tempt Harrison Ford to TV to play the former, and then pair him with Michael Cera? You'd watch that every week, right?
The Catch: Aside from the potential that networks wouldn't want an entire series set in Belgium (in which case, simply move the show somewhere else and retitle it In [Wherever]), there's no reason this couldn't work. Why aren't you working on this already, television executives?
The Brothers Bloom ------------------
The Job: The set-up of Rian Johnson's ridiculously charming 2008 comedy crime caper romance is simple: Two brothers who happen to be the best con men in the world have grown apart, but get back together for one last job. The only thing needed to make this into a television series is to rewind. They're still working together as the world's greatest confidence tricksters, but growing apart slowly in the process. Family drama, comedy, and confidence tricks? That has to be ratings gold.
The Crew: Again, a double-act of believable siblings is required—there really is an odd running theme forming here—and it would be great if Jason Segel can play one of them. Could he be convincingly related to Seth Rogen? The Freaks & Geeks reunion aspect alone is appealing.
The Catch: There's not much downside here. On the other hand, that might be expected from a confidence trick.
Shallow Grave -------------
The Job: The 1994 movie that gave the world Christopher Eccleston and Ewan McGregor (as well as Kerry Fox, but her career hasn't exactly had a similar trajectory) centered around three roommates who found the other occupant of their apartment dead, with a suitcase full of money beside him. The plan to turn this into a television series is simple: Play up the comedy latent in the movie and depict the roommates working together for a longer period of time to hide their windfall before turning on each other. Picture Being Human, except with wads of cash replacing everything supernatural.
The Crew: One of the things that worked so well about the movie was that McGregor, Eccleston, and Fox seemed so ... nice before things went wrong that it was a surprise to see them go so bad. From that angle, why not bring in some former Disney stars to give the whole thing the kind of appeal that could work on Fox or the CW?
The Catch: What happens when the audience decides that it would rather the roommates get away with the money without having to confess to their crimes?
Sin City --------
The Job: The 2005 adaptation of Frank Miller's hard-noir comic book series leaned as much on visual flair as anything else, but it worked. Imagine the same trick applied to a weekly television show and you can see the appeal. If nothing else, it's not as if it would look like any other show currently on television.
The Crew: Thanks to the anthology format of the movie (and the source comics), it would be possible to get actors who couldn't commit to a full series of episodes. When it comes to casting, the sky could be the limit—as long as they're okay with being reduced to monochromatic images in post-production.
The Catch: Okay, let's just be blunt here: Sin City's great for men, but it's more than a little bit misogynistic. Whoever tried to bring it to television screens would have to tone down the sexism in order to appeal to a wide enough audience to keep it on the air. (Also, the movie already has a sequel coming in August.)
The Big Lebowski ----------------
The Job: If Fargo can be made into a TV show so successfully, why not the Coen Brothers' 1998 bowling crime slacker epic? Considering the propensity of the movie to explore narrative side alleys and shortcuts instead of following a straight line towards the end, there's almost no way that the story couldn't be extended to fill a season of television, if not multiple seasons.
The Crew: It's difficult, if not downright impossible, to think of anyone else taking on the roles of the Dude, Walter, and Donny. Maybe Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi could be lured back to the lanes?
The Hitch: Hey, if someone can work out the casting, everything else is easy. Come on, Dude. Come and abide on the small screen for awhile.
The Usual Suspects ------------------
The Job: The twisty 1995 movie that introduced Bryan Singer and Kevin Spacey to mainstream audiences had a particularly theatrical bent to it, but there's no real reason why the unravelling of a criminal mastermind's handiwork couldn't be spread out across multiple episodes. It'd be just like watching House of Cards, only with career criminals instead of politicians. (No, I'm not going for the obvious joke; let's face it, you were all there before me.)
The Crew: Speaking of House of Cards, wouldn't it be great to get Spacey back as Roger 'Verbal' Kint for a television version? Make it a sequel, and show that he just can't help but manipulate gangs of criminals all the time. Each season, he does it to a new bunch of ne’erdowells.
The Catch: The appeal of The Usual Suspects is the big mystery of who Keyser Söze actually is. Once you've given that away, is there enough to keep people coming back for more?
Pulp Fiction ------------
The Job: Instead of simply recasting and retelling Quentin Tarantino's crime anthology—20 years old next month, believe it or not—why not take the conceit to its obvious conclusion and create an anthology series of stories with characters that switch between stories, each one told by different writers and directors setting out to get their own obsessions out of their system and onto the screen? It could be a modern Alfred Hitchcock Presents, with the added benefit of cameos that make it seem like something closer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Crew: As with Sin City, the lure of an anthology series is being able to use people who wouldn't be available full-time. Of course, to be authentically Tarantino-esque, there would have to be a focus on rehabilitating the careers of pop icons who have seen better days. Maybe see what Don Johnson is up to?
The Catch: Pity the poor fools who'd have to come up with a soundtrack to compare to the original movie on a weekly basis.
