On the point about Beacon owning the rights, yes, that is a brick wall, unless they want to get into production for cable. Maybe they already do that and I haven't found that connection, yet.
The main problem I have with movies is what I will call the Bond Dilemma. Most of the Repairman Jack stores take place within a very limited time frame, a few months to a couple of years. To remain true to the novels, then the character of Jack must be played by the same actor. Between the time movies are scripted to filming, years elapse, people age, and then we dive into the maelstrom of rewriting people, events, etc., to accommodate the passage of real world time. I like the Bond movies, but how many Bond actors have we been through? Six? How many Batmans have we been through? Four? I would like to see the character of Jack played by the same bloke throughout. Same for Gia, and same for Abe.
Cable would lend itself better for this. HBO would probably be the best venue. Jack tends to wax violent sometimes, swear, and to maintain the content and context of the stories, HBO or Showtime would be best, in the same vein as OZ or Deadwood or The Sopranos. Though for a larger audience, some of the mature themes could be reduced for common consumption via USA, FX, or SCIFI.
This year, "The Legend of the Seeker," was brought to TV. This show is based on Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novel. I have been following the development of this show for a while. From concept to broadcast, it didn't take very long, a couple years. I did not like the book much, the show is okay. When I see these shows like this come to air, knowing there is better stuff out there, I'm like, Man, why can't they do this for RPJ?
And, you know, while we hash this out, it gives FPW time to get the complete series written. The complete story arc for RPJ would then be available. Then, in a few years, we might have something like what J. Michael Strazinski did with Babylon 5. We could have the entire series produced, beginning to end.
I'm really just worried about what I'll watch when Burn Notice, House, Monk, and Psych are canceled.
quigglemouth: