We live in an era in which nearly any movie can become a TV series. Who cares if Rush Hour crashed and burned on CBS or that Beverly Hills Cop never got past the pilot stage? Because here comes Lethal Weapon, The Exorcist, and Training Day to replace them!
Now we can add one more movie-to-TV translation to the list: Get Shorty. Epix has announced that it is adapting the 1995 film Get Shorty for television, which was itself based on Elmore Leonard’s novel of the same name. In the film version, John Travolta played Chili Palmer, a loan shark and low level mobster who found himself drawn in the film industry. The cast was rounded out by Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, and Danny DeVito.
Shameless and Damages veteran Davey Holmes is writing the new adaptation of Leonard’s story, which will presumably leave it a more open ended tale for television. Epix apparently has this show on the fast track, as production will begin this fall before it premieres on Epix in 2017. The series is being produced by MGM TV, which is also behind Fargo. That’s somewhat encouraging, considering how good that series turned out to be.
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“We’re excited to be working with MGM on Get Shorty,” said Epix President Mark S. Greenberg in a statement. “I had the pleasure of working with Elmore Leonard early in my career and I am a big fan of his writing. Davey Holmes is a tremendous talent and has created a fantastic new series that is in the spirit of Leonard’s unique brand of social satire and strong narrative voice. Get Shorty promises to be yet another example of the type of high-end, premium TV that EPIX is committed to delivering to its subscribers.”
What do you think about the Get Shorty TV series? Let us know in the comments below!
