adaptation

Peep Show Getting Another Shot at American Adaptation with Gender Reversal at FX with Karey Dornetto

adaptation, david mitchell, fx, karey dornetto, peep show, robert webb

Peep Show Getting Another Shot at American Adaptation with Gender Reversal at FX with Karey Dornetto

Of the pre-existing shows and movies that are getting gender swapped as a modern “woke” update, Peep Show from the female perspective is actually quite the fascinating prospect.

So much of the long running UK comedy is driven from a literal male gaze and accompanying perspective and seeing it from the other side opens up a whole other world of possibilities should FX order it to series. Knowing that a Portlandia writer, Karey Dornetto, is attached is also very alluring.

Definitely, FX would be the network to take a chance on such a project, but we’ll just have to wait and see if they do indeed pick it up.

HBO Orders New Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner Series “Camping” Adapted from Julia Davis’ UK Series of Same Name

February 8, 2018

adaptation, camping, hbo, jenni konner, julia davis, lena dunham

HBO Orders New Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner Series “Camping” Adapted from Julia Davis’ UK Series of Same Name

Looks like HBO has gone long enough without a new episode of something from Dunham and Konner (the pair brought you six seasons of Girls).

Jennifer Garner is set for top billing in this series that will center on a camping trip between family and friends gone awry.

Here’s a promo of the original Camping from the UK (try and imagine the Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner version of it)

SYFY’s Happy! Will Have Christopher Meloni as an Alcoholic Ex-Cop Hit Man That Sees a Flying Horse Voiced by Patton Oswalt

October 25, 2017

adaptation, brian taylor, christopher meloni, darick robertson, grant morrison, happy!, patton oswalt, syfy

If you love the pinball-eque chaos of Shoot ‘Em Up or Crank, SYFY has got the next dose of crazed action comedy for you.

Look no further than the TV adaptation of Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel HAPPY! For it, SYFY has enlisted the services of Christopher Meloni to play one of his insane characters yet and the voice of Patton Oswalt to bring an endlessly positive flying cartoon horse to life (well, as alive as a hallucinatory cartoon can be).

See for yourself in the trailer.

Then, get ready for the series premiere of HAPPY! on Wednesday, December 6th on SYFY.

Simpsons Storyboard Artist Liz Climo Signed Book Deal at Running Press

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Simpsons Storyboard Artist Liz Climo Signed Book Deal at Running Press

Liz Climo makes some of the more adorable comic strips that you can find anywhere on the Internet. That’s on top of being a long time storyboard artist for The Simpsons.

Now, she’ll get to publish Best ~~Year~~ Bear Ever: A Year in the Little World of Liz that’s set to come out in fall 2018 from Running Press.

You can go down a rabbit hole looking at all her nifty past work on her Tumblr and Instagram until then.

TV Series Adaptation of ‘Wag the Dog’ Is in the Works at HBO

adaptation, barry levinson, hbo, wag the dog

TV Series Adaptation of ‘Wag the Dog’ Is in the Works at HBO

Barry Levinson, who directed the 1997 film, Wag the Dog, is attached as director and executive producer of this project while in development.

As we’re 20 years in to the future, HBO wisely will be approaching this as “…an ode to the classic film but moving the weapons of mass distraction beyond politics and into business, entertainment and, yes, nonprofits. In the 21st century with the tools of social media at their hands, nothing is off limits to a small group of operators when it comes to manufacturing reality.“

As HBO’s last political comedy, The Brink, didn’t really get off the ground how they would have liked it to, we’re guessing this is another stab at having something that can be in the same ballpark with Veep while Veep’s on hiatus.

Also, the green light of the series would further the recent trend of mining TV shows from past movies (Lethal Weapon, Dear White People, Scream). Remember, it wasn’t too long ago where “six seasons and a movie” was the dream for TV shows.

Focus Features Get Rights to Adapt Daniel Clowes’ Patience

December 13, 2016

adaptation, daniel clowes, focus features, patience

Focus Features Get Rights to Adapt Daniel Clowes’ Patience

With Wilson on deck and this acquiring the rights to adapt Patience by Focus Features, we’re excited to see this uptick in Daniel Clowes based studio projects.

Patience in particular, with its ‘cosmic timewarp deathtrip’, might play out pretty damn well on the big screen, perhaps rivaling certain Marvel movies that have plenty of cosmic adventures through time and space, but don’t necessarily get into the emotional nuanes of Clowes’ characters and worlds.

Desiree Akhavan To Direct Book Adaptation of Trans Romantic Comedy of Age Comedy “Adam”

November 29, 2016

adam, adaptation, ariel schrag, desiree akhavan

Desiree Akhavan To Direct Book Adaptation of Trans Romantic Comedy of Age Comedy “Adam”

It will be folks like Desiree Akhavan that will do the important work to keep visibility of minorities that might be more vulnerable than the rest of us in this world. Also, she’ll do it in a way that’s humorous, engaging, and enlightening.

Already, Akhavan has a track record in to telling stories that break from the traditional mainstream mold and really dig into the intersectionality of race, gender, sexual identity and more.

Just see for yourself with her movie Appropriate Behaviour and another movie she’s set to direct The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

She is now set to direct this adaptation of Ariel Schrag’s novel Adam, which details “an awkward teenager who goes to spend his final summer of high school with his older sister, who has thrown herself into New York City’s lesbian and trans activist scene. Adam meets the girl of his dreams at a party; but there’s one wrinkle – he can’t quite figure out how to tell her he’s not the trans man she thinks he is.”

Keep track of this and everything else Akhavan is up to.

3rd Attempt to Make US Version of Cult UK Comedy “Pulling”, Co-Created and Starring Sharon Horgan, Happening at NBC

November 7, 2016

adaptation, lizzie molyneux, nbc, pulling, sharon horgan, wendy molyneux

3rd Attempt to Make US Version of Cult UK Comedy “Pulling”, Co-Created and Starring Sharon Horgan, Happening at NBC

It looks like one way or another, a U.S. version of Pulling will make it to television.

A decade ago, Sharon Horgan started off her rise in comedy with co-creating (along with Dennis Kelly) and co-starring in Pulling, a hit UK sitcom following the lives of three 21st century women living together. Since then, Horgan has worked her name into the States with the critically acclaimed Catastrophe.

Either making things come full circle or complete her rise in America (Horgan also has a bunch of other irons in the TV fire including being involved in HBO’s Divorce), NBC is developing an American adaptation of Pulling that will be written by Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux from Bob’s Burgers. Previous attempts to make this happen at ABC have gone nowhere (including one with June Diane Raphael, Jenny Slate, and Kristen Schaal), but maybe the timing was just off.

Certainly, Horgan has way more pull in the US than in years past.

‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ TV Adaptation Now Being Developed by Anonymous Content

October 8, 2016

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‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ TV Adaptation Now Being Developed by Anonymous Content

Between Falling Water, Dream Corp LLC, and this, it looks like TV is getting back into dreams.

Maybe it was a result of seeing Falling Water, a dream-within-a-dream mystery thriller, the trippy procedural comedy Dream Corp LLC make their way to TV that sparked the development of an Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind TV series by Anonymous Content. In any case, we’ll be curious to see who they would get to fill the ambitious creative shoes of Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry, who, at this point, are not attached to this project.

On top of that, getting leads Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet seems like a pipe dream, but, with this golden age of television peaking right now, it’s probably less of a pipe dream than it would have been a few years ago.

COPS is Getting Adapted Into Edgy Buddy Comedy Directed by Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer

August 19, 2016

adaptation, buddy comedy, cops, ruben fleischer

COPS is Getting Adapted Into Edgy Buddy Comedy Directed by Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer

It’s been over 7 years since Reno 911! did a masterful send up of the long running, real life, docu-series COPS.

Hopefully, this will make up for the 7 years of a comedic version of COPS not being around.

Paramount Adapting “Galaxy Quest” for TV

adaptation, galaxy quest, paramount, sam rockwell, sigourney weaver, tony shaloub

If this actually goes to series, they’ll be going head-to-head with Other Space.

It’s been over 15 years since Galaxy Quest was on the big screen and now Paramount is picking it as the latest TV show to be adapted/revived from something that happened ten years ago and more. The director, writer, and producer of the movie will be involved.

High concept sci-fi sitcoms are on the rise with the success of Last Man on Earth as well as the aforementioned Other Space.

Hopefully, they’ll handle the adaptation well and get as much of the cast including Sigourney Weaver, Sam Rockwell, and Tony Shaloub on board as they can.

Simon Pegg, Working Title, and Universal Sign Off on a “Shaun Of The Dead” Live Musical

December 30, 2014

adaptation, almost legal productions, musical, shaun of the dead, simon pegg, universal, working title

(via Uproxx)

Almost Legal Productions has already adapted 2004’s Shaun Of The Dead into a live stage musical and it’s now getting more traction as the likes of Simon Pegg, Working Title, and Universal have all given the OK for the adaptation.

Before you reserve your judgement, know that Shaun of the Dead Live encourages audience members come in costume, sings their own version of The Specials’ Ghost Town, and more.

There are currently no U.S. dates, but perhaps soon and it’ll make it over to the States and here in LA where we’re sure plenty of folks will want to see it.

China Will Be Doing Their Own Adaptation of “Mad About You”

December 1, 2014

adaptation, china, helen hunt, huaso, mad about you, paul reiser, sony pictures television

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

After all these years, Mad About You is getting readapted. It’s not a U.S. reboot or something that the Internet has revived, but, rather, it’s a new Chinese adaptation of the 1990’s hit sitcom that starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt.

Many comedians currently joke about how China will take over the U.S. based on factors including how they outnumber us, the money that the U.S. owes them, etc.

However, readapting a hit sitcom from overseas is, these days, pretty American and considering that a classic example of an 90’s American multicam sitcom, Mad About You, this is probably a positive in overall U.S.-China relations.

Lake Bell Set to Direct An Adaptation of Claire Messud’s Emperor’s Children Written by Noah Baumbach

August 27, 2014

adaptation, claire messud, emperor's children, lake bell, noah baumbach

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

Lake Bell has just set herself up to have a potentially great follow up to her directorial debut, In a World.

The Emperor’s Children, a novel from Claire Messud that follows the NY intelligentsia before and after 9/11, was adapted into a screenplay by perhaps the perfect person to adapt such a story, Noah Baumbach, With the script in place, Lake Bell is now set to direct making for an undeniably intriguing collaboration.

We’ll definitely be waiting patiently for a trailer.

Carrie Brownstein’s First Feature Writing Gig Will Be An Adaptation of “Lost in Austen”

adaptation, carrie brownstein, ifc, lost in austen, portlandia

Carrie Brownstein has made waves in the comedy world ever since the debut of Portlandia on IFC. Now, her talents are being tapped elsewhere as she has just set to adapt the UK series Lost in Austen into a movie.

Having someone in Brooklyn be transported into the world of Jane Austen is definitely within Brownstein’s wheelhouse and we’re excited to see what she comes up with.

So, this does count as our 2nd post about an adaptation of something based on the works of Jane Austen today and we can only hope that they’re both as enjoyable as Austenland.

Watch a Mini Documentary About a “Play” Based on The Documentary “Mistaken For Strangers” Starring Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis

adaptation, funny or die, matt berninger, mistaken for strangers, parody, play, ted danson, the national, tom berninger, zach galifianakis

The documentary that follows the relationship between The National’s Matt Berninger and his brother Tom Berninger, Mistaken For Strangers, is being “adapted” into a play starring Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis. Of course, doing a play based on a documentary has seldom been done, if ever, and makes the rehearsal process more than a little taxing.

Watch Funny or Die’s inside look into Mistake For Strangers the play.

Paramount TV Developing a Truman Show TV Series

adaptation, paramount, truman show

Paramount TV Developing a Truman Show TV Series

While your knee-jerk reaction may be to say that The Truman Show might turn into what it was sardonically predicting, know that Burning Love, as a series, does a fantastic job of sending up reality TV dating shows.

You would do well to know that Paramount was also involved in Burning Love, so a Truman Show TV series might be in good hands.

A Stage Production of ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ Intended For Broadway in the Works

a confederacy of dunces, adaptation, john kennedy toole, theatre

A Stage Production of ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ Intended For Broadway in the Works

John Kennedy Toole’s novel A Confederacy of Dunces has been regarded as a humor classic for a long time, so you can imagine that adaptations of it in various forms such as a movie have been considered.

Now, producers from Shelton Street Theatrical now intend to make a stage production of A Confederacy of Dunces in the not so distant future. We can only hope that it becomes a big hit and makes its way West to LA.

Rob Reiner To Produce & Direct Series Adaptation Of Novel ‘Basket Case’ For Spike

December 12, 2013

adaptation, basket case, rob reiner, spike tv

Rob Reiner To Produce & Direct Series Adaptation Of Novel ‘Basket Case’ For Spike

The great Rob Reiner is preparing to do a TV series that could be just another procedural/detective thriller type show save for the fact that Rob Reiner is producing and directing it.

Jason Bateman To Direct and Star with Nicole Kidman in ‘The Family Fang’

November 3, 2013

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Jason Bateman To Direct and Star with Nicole Kidman in ‘The Family Fang’

The Family Fang: A Novel , a novel about a dysfunctional family kicked off by work-obsessed performance artist parents is set to be adapted by Jason Bateman, who given his Arrested Development pedigree, should have more than a good grasp on where to take this.

If you still have any doubts about that, one of the children in the book is named Buster.

Noah Baumbach Has Been Secretly Directing an Animated Movie for Dreamworks

September 19, 2013

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Noah Baumbach Has Been Secretly Directing an Animated Movie for Dreamworks

Noah Baumbach, the director of The Squid and The Whale, Frances Ha, Greenberg, and more complex, layered live action comedies is making his first step into directing in animated features with an animated adaptation of Berkeley Breathed’s Flawed Dogs, an illustrated novel for kids.

Tone wise, we’re so intensely curious where Baumbach is going to take this.

NBC Developing ‘Reality Bites’ Sitcom with Ben Stiller

August 23, 2013

adaptation, ben stiller, development, nbc, reality bites, red hour

NBC Developing ‘Reality Bites’ Sitcom with Ben Stiller

NBC, in yet another surprising turn, has added an adaptation of the 90’s cult classic comedy Reality Bites to their development slate.

Interestingly, the adaptation will still take place in the early 90’s before the Internet, which we’re absolutely sure will be the source of so many jokes that will eventually be turned into .gifs if this show ever sees the light of TV screens.