Snatch and Lethal Weapon join the film to TV revolution
Can you believe it’s been 16 years since the debut of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch? I can’t - it’s watched so often in my house and yet feels as fresh now as it did then.
My youngest loves it, quoting Brick Top at the most inopportune moments. You know, weddings, funerals, school assembly (he’s 6th form, honest, it’s fine). And now, following what’s fast becoming a major trend, it’s being rebooted for TV.
For UK TV fans though, it’s a bittersweet thrill, since it’s being made by Sony for the free-streaming channel Crackle, currently unavailable here (although I’m sure a home will be found for it at some point).
The show will likely acquire a decent enough following, with Snatch, Harry Potter and Musketeer fans tuning in, as Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Luke Pasqualino (d’Artagnan) head the cast of unscrupulous crooks chasing stolen gold.
Lethal Weapon promises to divide the viewing public, if comments on the trailer clips are anything to go by. Debuting on Fox and already snapped up by ITV to join its primetime dramas, die hard (I know, how long will it take before they convert that one) fans will no doubt be lamenting the tainting of the originals. However, some suggest it retains the soul and spirit of the Mel Gibson/Danny Glover franchise and the trailer certainly looks like a heap of good fun to me.
Clayne Crawford, the Rectify star cast as Riggs, has also come in for praise from the American TV Guide, who cite his “captivating performance” as one reason to place the show in their Top 10 picks.
Sasha Breslau bought the show for ITV, calling it a superb reboot “with the perfect mix of action, heart, humour and terrific chemistry” between Damon Wayans (Murtaugh) and Crawford.
With Minority Report and Training Day also in the pipeline, and JJ Abrams’ Westworld apparently the most watched premiere on HBO in three years, the two new series follow other classics, cult and mainstream, that made a well received transition to the small screen:
From Dusk Till Dawn
George Clooney’s breakthrough performance in the 1996 film is just one of the reasons this supernatural comedy horror became such a cult classic. Director Robert Rodriguez - a partner in the El Rey network where the series has its home - is now overseeing the third series to generally popular and critical acclaim. Running parallel with the film, we find the survivors of that fatal night - not all of them human - battling new forces of evil.
“There was so much I wanted to explore in that movie that I didn’t get to. And I delved a little deeper into Mesoamerican mythologies and Aztec and Mayan mythologies and where a vampire culture could have existed back then and found fascinating stuff.” - Showrunner Rodriguez.
Fargo
The new Snatch tips its hat to this re-imagining of the Coen brothers comedy-drama masterpiece from 1996. More inspired by the original rather than a direct spin-off, and produced by said brothers themselves, it boasts a cast including Ted Danson, Kirsten Dunst, Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton - with Ewan McGregor joining for 2017.
M.A.S.H.
The one I was hooked on before I knew there’d been a film. On Wednesdays nights, my dad and brother went over the pub to play darts (very successfully). Leaving my mum and me indoors, we assumed our own ritual: I’d go across to the pub, get a bottle of Coke (other fizzy drinks are available) and a few packets of Smith’s cheese and onion crisps (other crisps yada yada), before settling down at 9pm to watch the hilarious, poignant and beguiling antics of Hawkeye, McIntyre, Radar, Houlihan, Klinger, Burns and Blake. You can still find repeats - treat yourself.
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
One for the youngsters but nevertheless, as an adult, you could still enjoy Indy’s adventures - and learn a bit of history too, as he encounters an array of real characters, including Churchill and Picasso. Multiple Emmys couldn’t save it from the axe - it looked and felt as expensive as it was to produce.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The mummy of all film to TV transfers. Writer and creator Joss Whedon, dissatisfied with how the film panned out, brought the show to the small screen where it became a game changer. The single best ever female role model in the world, smart, funny, inventive - I was well past my teens and yet I couldn’t get enough. I still have hankerings to binge on the boxset again.
Want to chat TV? Find me @Scattyjan on Twitter
Images: HBO, Fox, Snatch, El Rey, BBC/Joss Whedon
