Back in 2004 when I saw the original film adaptation of Friday Night Lights, based on the H.G. Bissinger bestseller and considered “one of the greatest sports stories of all time” by “Sports Illustrated”, I thought it was a pretty good movie. I wasn’t blown away, but certainly enjoyed myself. Director Peter Berg then went on to shepherd the NBC series which began in 2006 and ended with the season five and series finale last night.
The “Friday Night Lights” TV series stars Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor, the head coach of the Dillon High School Panthers, a small town group of Texas football players, and follows the ups and downs of the team, its players, coaching staff, family and friends. The cast included the likes of Connie Britton, Aimee Teegarden and rising star Taylor Kitsch who will be seen as the title character in Disney’s John Carter as well as a member of the cast of Berg’s upcoming 2012 blockbuster Battleship.
With the show coming to a close it was thought this would be the end, but a new report from TV Line seems to insinuate things may not be over just yet.
On Thursday, Grantland editor Bill Simmons tweeted the following: “Peter Berg told us he wants to do [a ‘Friday Night Lights’] movie with [Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton] off the final episode.” TV Line’s Michael Ausiello followed up on that tweet and sources told him this was more than just idle chatter and that Berg is working behind the scenes to make it a reality.
A representative from Universal told Ausiello they don’t “currently have a [‘Friday Night Lights’] project in development,” but considering the number of producers involved it would be unlikely for the studio to jump the gun and confirm the project one way or another.
While I have never watched the show, my girlfriend is obsessed and I know many others are as well. Chandler’s involvement in J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 was one of the reasons I noticed many people were excited for that film, and I personally remember enjoying Britton on the Michael J. Fox sitcom “Spin City” not to mention her turns on “The West Wing” and “24”. Moving from television to the big screen, however, is a tough move to make, but this is one project I would imagine stands a good chance.
What do you think?
