It seems that a modernized retelling of ’80s and ’90s movies as television shows is the latest trend, with Four Weddings And A Funeral , and now St. Elmo’s Fire .
The Hollywood Reporter shared that NBC has a modernized version of the Brat Pack film in the works as a one-hour drama. Josh Berman ( Drop Dead Diva, The Mob Doctor ) is on board to write the script and executive produce the show about friends struggling with adulting.
An effort was made 10 years ago to remake St. Elmo’s Fire as a film before then launching a television series, but it never made it to the big or small screen.
The original film starred Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Mare Winningham and revolved around a group of Georgetown University (but filmed at the University of Maryland) graduates as they adjusted to life and adulthood after college.
At this time, there is no news on whether it will be the same story as the original film, just modernized or not, and which actors will be attached to the project.
Berman would be wise to pay close attention to the Mindy Kaling adaptation of Four Weddings And A Funera l, now streaming on Hulu, as it has been very popular.
‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ TV Series in the Works at @NBC #StElmosFire https://t.co/5TsBucbquL pic.twitter.com/5BAzFp0laz
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) August 14, 2019
Kaling used the premise from the original film which starred Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell to retell a story of near misses and love found in the oddest places, reports The Inquisitr .
The Richard Curtis rom-com was the first in a series of films that was followed by Love Actually and Notting Hill , all starring Grant in a lead role. Kaling explains that she thought about retelling the story for a while, and found a fresh way to bring it back to life.
“At first I thought, ‘Why would I ever do it?’ I thought, well, you know, if I was going to do this, because I love the world, I love the world of the movie that makes you fall in love with London, it’s about friendship. That part of the movie I really did love. I thought if I can do this in a way where I wouldn’t have a lot of comparisons to the original source material, which is perfect.”
Kaling said she decided to filter the whole story through her own lens, which would give it a unique twist. Fans of the original will notice one familiar face, MacDowell, in a totally different part, but it provides a sort of Easter egg for fans of the film.