Steven Spielberg Developing A Minority Report TV Series From Godzilla Writer

Everybody runs.

By Brent McKnight | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

MinorityYou know who Steven Spielberg is. He’s the filmmaker responsible for some of the most celebrated, beloved movies of the last 40 years. His resume is like a laundry list of great films, from Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark, all he way up to Schindler’s List and Lincoln. He also has an obvious soft spot for science fiction, with the likes of E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, and so many more. You know him via his movies, and though he still remains active as a film director, he’s been busy in the television realm lately as well, producing shows like CBS’ Extant. And now these two sides of his career are about to collide, as he plans to bring one of his fan favorite sci-fi films, Minority Report, to the small screen as a continuing series.

Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story of the same name, The Wrap reports that Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment is working to produce a TV serial around the 2002, Tom Cruise-starring film. To further this end, they’ve also reportedly hired Godzilla writer Max Borenstein. While that first part is totally exciting, the last part is rather meh. We loved Godzilla, but more for the monster and the spectacle, not for the story, writing, or characters, which all left much to be desired. Lets just say that the writing is not the strongest element of the film.

Minority Report is set in a future where Cruise’s character, Chief John Anderton, is the head of a special “PreCrime” unit of the police. They use three “precogs” who can see the future to identify and arrest people who will commit a crime before they have the chance. When Anderton is accused of a future murder, he is forced to go on the run and clear his name. The story and film brings up all kinds of big theme in conjunction with this preemptive law enforcement, like fate, destiny, free will, and determinism, among many others.

The way the weekly series is being envisioned, it will most likely focus on the exploits of the PreCrime unit. Much like Extant, which sparked a bidding war when it made the rounds to the networks last year and stars Halle Berry, the are also targeting big time star to take the lead role, though there is no word if that is Anderton or some reimagining of his character.

This is the latest in a long line of successful movies to make the jump to TV. Fargo is a fantastic recent example, but there are also the likes of MASH, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Friday Night Lights to provide a nice roadmap. And this Minority Report series now joins 12 Monkeys as one of our favorite sci-fi movies currently getting the TV treatment. Syfy plans to debut the adaptation of Terry Gilliam’s 1995 feature early in 2015.

Right now there is no word on where Minority Report could find a home, though 20th distributed the film in 2002, so it’s possible Fox could get the first shot. There’s also timeline for the development, but you better believe we’ll keep you posted as soon as we find out anything more.