In the earliest days of television, the new form of entertainment was viewed as a threat to movies and the cinematic experience. There can still be this level of elitism that exists between the two forms of storytelling, but the lines between the two of them have become increasingly blurred. Actors that used to only do movies have now happily migrated over to many prestigious modern television series.
Movies have also become a popular medium to provide closure over TV cliffhangers or even reboot classic television properties in a new condensed context. Sometimes these ventures strike while the iron is still hot, but there are even more where multiple decades pass before a property returns with a fresh, new cinematic coat of paint.
10 Wild Wild West Bungles Will Smith’s Summer Blockbuster Track Record (30 Years)
It’s always disappointing when a movie version of a beloved television series is so far off the mark and feels like a soulless adaptation that barely resembles the source material. Wild Wild West is the perfect property to turn into a movie and Barry Sonnenfeld directs a flashy film that stars Will Smith in an attempt to recapture their success from Men in Black.
The messy steampunk action film is a low mark for everyone involved and it likely didn’t help that Wild Wild West ended in 1969 and this movie gets made 30 years later in 1999.
9 TV Hit Fantasy Island Is Given A Horror Makeover Three Decades Later (31 Years)
It’s often surprising to see which former television series get the silver screen treatment, but what’s even more interesting is when the property is given a serious genre shift. Fantasy Island is brightly colored wish-fulfillment episodic storytelling, but Blumhouse takes the basic premise and transforms it into the ingredients for a horror film.
Fantasy Island ended in 1989 and so this movie in 2020 has had 31 years of distance from the original. Surprisingly, it seems like people still aren’t finished with new takes on Fantasy Island.
8 Nora Ephron’s Bewitched Movie Applies A Meta Take To The Television Classic (33 Years)
The ’60s and ‘70s were full of television comedies that played with the genre in silly ways. Bewitched is one of the most successful examples of this trope and ever since the series finale in 1972 there has been interest in a cinematic version of the story.
The Bewitched movie eventually happens 33 years later, in 2005, as one of Nora Ephron’s most unusual films. The movie focuses on a remake of the television series, but also involves actual witches. Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman’s awkward chemistry, unfortunately, holds back this movie.
7 Christopher Lloyd Gives The My Favorite Martian Movie Such Life (33 Years)
My Favorite Martian was an entertaining enough sitcom during the 1960s that takes the fish out of water alien premise and mixes it together with slapstick family shenanigans. My Favorite Martian isn’t as sacred of a property as Mork & Mindy or ALF, which makes it an excellent choice for a movie adaptation.
My Favorite Martian was released in 1999, 33 years after the series wrapped up in 1966. The movie is so much fun because of Back to the Future’s Christopher Lloyd’s committed performance, but there’s also an excellent supporting cast that’s made up of Jeff Daniels and Daryl Hannah.
6 CHiPs Returns To Police The Streets After More Than Three Decades (34 Years)
Some TV shows become hits not because of their premise, but because there’s affable chemistry between the cast and they arrive at the right time. There’s nothing special about the cop show CHiPs from the late 1970s, so there weren’t exactly high expectations surrounding Dax Shepard’s 2017 action-comedy.
CHiPs is generic buddy cop fodder that’s centered around the dysfunctional efforts of California’s Highway Patrol unit. Shepard gives his all here and he works well off of Michael Peña, but the movie isn’t enough to revive interest in the property 34 years after its conclusion in 1983.
5 I Spy Brings Back The Action Series After 34 Years With Fresh Stars (34 Years)
Owen Wilson and Eddie Murphy are both two actors who have done well within the two-hander action-comedy genre. 2002’s I Spy isn’t able to conjure the same enthusiasm as similar buddy cop efforts like Beverly Hills Cop or Shanghai Noon. There’s often a built-in audience with a property adaptation rather than an original story.
All of these elements result in I Spy, a messy spy comedy that doesn’t utilize Wilson or Murphy to the best of their abilities. Coming out 34 years after I Spy’s conclusion in 1968, it’s unclear if I Spy’s brand even made a difference here.
4 Tim Burton Revives Famed Genre Soap Opera Dark Shadows After Four Decades (41 Years)
Dark Shadows is an important touchstone of television. It’s a soap opera that ran for decades, but also helped the genre and supernatural storytelling find their footing on network television before it was the norm. Tim Burton was a fan of Dark Shadows back when it was originally airing, so he’s a wise choice for a cinematic adaptation.
Burton’s movie came out in 2012, 41 years after the soap opera’s conclusion in 1971. There’s clearly a lot of passion on the screen and Eva Green is absolutely captivating, but Dark Shadows gets lost among Burton’s other very similar movies.
3 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Attempts A Reboot After Over 45 Years Later (47 Years)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is cut from the same cloth as other suspenseful action series like Mission: Impossible. The pulpy TV show ends in 1968 and so the movie’s release in 2015, 47 years later, isn’t exactly timely.
However, there’s still name recognition with U.N.C.L.E. and so it makes sense that movie studios would attempt to transform it into the next James Bond, Mission: Impossible, or Jason Bourne series. Henry Cavill shines in the movie and proves that he’d make an excellent Bond in the future.
2 The Honeymooners Movie Waits Nearly 50 Years For Its Radical, New Take (49 Years)
The Honeymooners might come across as crude and boorish by modern standards, but there’s no denying that Ralph Kramden’s antics, as brought to life by Jackie Gleason, was foundational comedy back in the 1950s. The Honeymooners concludes in 1956, but it’s nearly five decades later when a fresh take on the sitcom comes to fruition as a movie in 2005.
2005’s The Honeymooners loosely recreates the characters and social dynamics of the television series, but pivots to a unique perspective with a cast that’s composed of Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Eeps, Gabrielle Union, and Regina Hall.
1 The Lone Ranger Returns After More Than 55 Years To A Whimper (56 Years)
The Lone Ranger represents classical serialized storytelling that helped television evolve during its earliest years. The formulaic adventures of the titular hero and his sidekick, Tonto, ended in 1957, so the movie has 56 years to refine its take when it’s released in 2013.
Both Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer have other unsuccessful movie reboots that are included here, but The Lone Ranger seems to be the synthesis of all of this. It’s the apex of waiting too long and a major box office failure. Gore Verbinski can’t replicate his Pirates of the Caribbean success here.
About The Author
