Report: ‘The Purge’ Anthology TV Series in the Works
On the surface, The Purge would seem like a fairly singular theatrical event. The concept of one carnage-filled night a year works wonders in two-hour stretches, but would anyone ever be crazy enough try it as serialized TV? We might find out, as director James DeMonaco is reportedly developing an “interwoven anthology” series around The Purge franchise.
CinemaBlend reports that Purge writer-director DeMonaco himself confirmed the news, adding that deals are in the works for a likely 10-episode series. The concept would essentially weave together “six or seven storylines,” intercutting them with flashbacks to get into the background of a purger in ways 90 minutes couldn’t:
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.
DeMonaco also claimed discussions were “far ahead on the TV front,” ideally with a cable outlet, but could The Purge really continue beyond its third film into the TV realm? Would a long-form approach to a one-night Purge work?