It is common to see Hollywood studios turning to other mediums to extract an intellectual property to make a feature out of. You see it with video games, comic books, and television. Some would even say that television is now ahead of the movies in terms of originality, innovation, and adult-oriented stories. Of course, while we do live in “the golden age of TV,” the whole concept of borrowing from other mediums goes both ways. Television — especially network TV — has gotten into a trend of adapting hit movies for the small screen, and today, Fox has unveiled the first trailers for their adaptations of “Lethal Weapon” and “The Exorcist.”
Based on the Richard Donner film, “Lethal Weapon” sees Damon Wayans stepping into Danny Glover’s shoes as Roger Murtaugh, while Clayne Crawford impersonates Mel Gibson (even the voice is similar) as Martin Riggs. The basic plot is the same (loose-cannon Riggs — mourning his wife’s death — is assigned to the grizzled Murtaugh as a partner), only with “Fast & Furious”-influenced, gravity-defying action (so much so that ‘Fast’ star Jordana Brewster is in the show). The series is executively produced by McG, who also directed the pilot, and needless to say, we may be too old for this shit. However, Wayans is no stranger to the buddy cop genre (witness “Bulletproof” and “The Last Boy Scout,” the latter penned by “Lethal Weapon” creator Shane Black), and it’s nice to see him back on screen.
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A bit more promising is the adaptation of William Friedkin’s horror masterpiece “The Exorcist,” which has Rupert Wyatt (“Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes,” “The Gambler”) on board as executive producer and pilot director. Like “Lethal Weapon,” “The Exorcist” shares a similar plot to the first film, but with different character names, and it doesn’t appear to borrow as heavily from its predecessor. Geena Davis plays Angela Rance (essentially the Ellen Burstyn role), whose daughter gets back from a trip and finds strange occurrences happening upon her return. It may sound a little crazy to make a series from possibly the most heralded horror film of all-time, but we all said the same thing about “Hannibal,” and were proved wrong pretty quickly.
You can watch the trailer for “Lethal Weapon” above and “The Exorcist” below. “The Exorcist” is tentatively set for a November 2016 airdate, while the debut for “Lethal Weapon” has not yet been revealed.