‘The Purge’ TV Series Confirmed in Development for Syfy and USA
It was back in September we first heard that The Purge director James DeMonaco had in mind to develop an “interwoven anthology” series around the franchise, but with few updates since. Now, Blumhouse is reportedly co-producing a Purge series for USA and Syfy, and already writing.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Blumhouse has launched an expansive TV arm spearheaded by a new Roger Ailes series for Showtime, as well as the apparent Purge series. Blumhouse TV will serve as the main studio for The Purge, with DeMonaco overseeing the series and a recently-opened writers room. The series will “air on both of Chris McCumber’s NBCU-owned cable networks,” including Syfy and USA, with Platinum Dunes and DeMonaco’s producing partner Sebastien K. Lemercier executive producing.
Back in September, here’s what DeMonaco had to say of the concept:
The idea of why I like the idea of a maybe 10 hour TV thing on this, the one thing you really can’t do on the films is, just because of mere real estate and time, is you can’t get into the nuance and complexity that would drive someone to commit a terrible act on this night. Whether it’s revenge or out of passion, but what might be interesting in a TV show is with a flashback narrative, if you start on Purge Night but you go back to show how people have gotten to where they are.
Where you see a couple that’s gone haywire on this night, but let’s show everything that’s led up to this moment of a husband trying to kill a wife – the cheating or the accusations of cheating or money problems. It will be interesting to show those arcs, those dramatic and complex arcs that get people to where they pick up a gun or a knife and kill someone else. I think there’s something cool that we can do with the real estate of TV – 10 hours, potentially.
It remains to be seen how quickly development will progress, or if a TV adaptation means a confirmed end to the films, but what should we hope for from a Purge TV series?