Photo: AMC
Sometimes the best stories get a second chance. Following AMC’s big announcements that it will expand The Walking Dead universe and bring back a fan-favorite Breaking Bad character, we rounded up a few of the best upcoming movies based on TV shows, as well as some of our favorites from the past.
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Breaking Bad
He’s back! AMC revives Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman in a Breaking Bad movie that will take place following the character’s escape from Albuquerque after he was kidnapped and freed in a bloody showdown in the 2013 series finale. Series creator Vince Gilligan has been writing the movie, which he will also executive produce. It’s scheduled to begin production this month.
The Walking Dead
Fans rejoiced as the briefly believed-to-be-dead Rick Grimes ended up surviving his final episode of The Walking Dead. AMC and chief content officer Scott Gimple announced plans for a trio of big-budget Walking Dead TV movies led by the iconic character. Leaving the series allows Andrew Lincoln more time with his children in London, especially since the movies are only scheduled to film for two months at a time (versus the nine-month shoot of each Walking Dead season). Production is set to begin next year.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
The first live-action Pokémon movie will feature Ryan Reynolds voicing the title character. Justice Smith plays a teen who seeks help from Detective Pikachu and a young journalist after his father is kidnapped. The director promises that the Pokémon characters appearing in the film were created using “some of the most high-end visual effects in the world.” The movie is currently scheduled to debut on May 10, 2019.
Charlie’s Angels
Charlie’s Angels returns to the big screen in November 2019. The new film takes on the detective agency premise of the original 1970s television series and goes global with the Townsend Agency, now a worldwide security and intelligence service. The movie will focus on one of those teams, starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska. Patrick Stewart, Djimon Hounsou, and writer/director Elizabeth Banks will all reportedly play the role of Bosley.
Deadwood
After the award-winning HBO series abruptly ended with its third season in 2006, fans will finally get to see their favorite characters return in the new Deadwood film. The movie, which recently began production in Los Angeles, centers around the characters reuniting after 10 years to celebrate South Dakota’s statehood. Former rivalries are reignited, alliances are tested, and old wounds reopened as they all navigate changes over time.
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Star Trek
The Star Trek series first premiered in 1966, starring William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk (who could ever forget those visual effects?). The franchise expanded with many spinoff series as well as movies, including J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek. The movie served as the 11th film in the franchise and rebooted the story with a fresh cast and film series for a new generation.
Mission: Impossible
Before Tom Cruise was breaking bones performing insane stunts for the Mission: Impossible movie franchise, Steven Hill (and later Jim Phelps) led the Impossible Missions Force (a.k.a. the IMF), with self-destructive recordings advising them of their next mission at the beginning of each episode. The series won three Golden Globe Awards and multiple Emmys before ending in 1973.
The Fugitive
ABC’s The Fugitive TV series that ran in the 1960s and the 1993 movie adaptation starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones were both critically-acclaimed projects. The series won an Emmy and a Golden Globe while Tommy Lee Jones took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Ford and David Janssen both played innocent Dr. Richard Kimble, accused of murder and forced to go on the run to find the real killer while being hunted by the law.
The Equalizer
Before Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua took on the movie versions with a bloody vengeance, Edward Woodward starred as Robert McCall in the original 1985 series of The Equalizer. The character utilized his special training to exact vigilante justice for innocent people in dangerous situations. The Equalizer 2, released earlier this year, served as Denzel’s first ever movie sequel, giving us even more of his badass take on McCall.
21 Jump Street
When the 21 Jump Street series launched in 1987, the show not only jump-started Johnny Depp’s career but was mainly a crime drama show. The 2012 movie starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum went a different route, reimagining the story as an action-comedy. The movie and its follow-up, 22 Jump Street, featured a few cameos from the original series, including Depp’s reprisal as Officer Tom Hanson before he was brutally gunned down alongside former co-star Peter DeLuise.