8 movies that deserve new life on television

Courtesy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

Pixar / Walt Disney Pictures

Stephen Vaughan / Warner Bros. Pictures

Courtesy Columbia Pictures

Courtesy Working Title Films

Courtesy Filmkameratene AS

; courtesy Filmkameratene AS

Jonathan Wenk / Summit Entertainment

“I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.”

This immortal line from Gloria Swanson, starring as ageing star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950), is proving prophetic, as more movies are turning their backs on sequels and cinema screens to get ready for their close-up on television.

For A-list Hollywood talent, the stigma of working in television has all but evaporated, and the small screen – which is in the middle of a new golden age – is where current and future movie stars are building brands and careers through remakes, reboots and spin-offs from popular movies.

This autumn alone we've seen Limitless (CBS), Minority Report (Fox) and the upcoming Westworld (HBO), with a Lethal Weapon pilot on the order paper at Fox.

Even the iconic wit Bruce Campbell will be back to chainsaw Deadites in Ash vs Evil Dead on the Starz network starting this Halloween.

And the second season of Fargo, set in the same world as the 1996 Coen brothers' movie starts today in the United States, following its critically acclaimed debut last year.

Yes, a great movie always leaves us hungry for more, and now TV broadcasters are stepping in to give us what we want. Here’s a list of movies we’d love to see given new life on the telly.

1 The Adventuresof Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

Surreal enough to melt Salvador Dalí's clocks, this campy ensemble sci-fi flick starred Peter Weller (RoboCop) as Buckaroo Banzai – neurosurgeon, particle physicist, race-car driver, comic-book hero and rock star – aided and abetted by his genius posse, the mega-cool Hong Kong Cavaliers (including Jeff Goldblum and Clancy Brown), in a battle against interdimensional aliens, the Lectroids from Planet 10. This one is crying for a silly weekly series of bizarre save-the-world missions.

2 The Incredibles (2004)

Pixar’s animated classic about the Parrs, a superhero family who are forced to hide their amazing abilities under a forced relocation to the suburbs, left audiences aching for more. While writer-director Brad Bird is preparing a movie sequel for release in 2019, we’d like to see some new family foibles, fresh villains and touching adventures right now. Pretty please?

3 Inception (2010)

The thought of “dream thieves” stealing secrets and messing with their unconscious minds made lucid dreamers squirm. But let’s face it, Leonardo DiCaprio’s global hit was far too complex to be bottled up in a mere two hours of cinema. A television series could take the time to explain and explore the intricacies of this cerebral science while spinning the origins of Cobb, Arthur, Mal and Eames.

4 The Craft (1996)

Sisterhood with the intensity of fingernails screeching across a chalkboard made this movie about a black-magic coven of four high-school girls totally compelling – especially in that gripping scene in which the mentally unbalanced Nancy (Fairuza Balk) levitates to drag her tiptoes across the floor as she uses her tele­kinesis to eject a bad boy out of her second-storey window. The series could trace their missteps and life lessons as they learn to wield their new powers.

5 The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Dude's abided long enough. Could he (Jeff Bridges), Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi) be sweet-talked into a limited series? There's a definite shortage of bowling/crime/slacker yarns out there in TV land right now, and a fresh dose of the Coen brothers' offbeat comedy, with new obstacles for the gang, would be welcome. After all, it worked so well for Fargo, right?

6 Trollhunter (2010)

Leave it to Norway to come up with a thrilling found-footage mockumen­tary that leaves us pining for the land of the fjords and a chance to fight towering bloodthirsty trolls. Perhaps the broadcaster CW, home to The Vampire Diaries, could cast the perfect teenagers to join a veteran troll hunter on more nail-biting journeys into in the dark spooky woods.

7 Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Tim Burton's dark, romantic fantasy about an uncommonly gentle soul sent Johnny Depp down the path of weirdness – but in a magnificent way, unlike so many of his recent flops. For the reboot, his character – now living in hiding – could fall in love anew, striking sparks of an intensity not seen since Beauty and the Beast stole hearts and made stars of Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman in the vintage TV series (1987-1990).

8 Source Code (2011)

Jake Gyllenhaal gave a riveting performance in this sci-fi thriller as a war veteran placed in an experimental Source Code device that sends him back in time to inhabit the body of someone during their last eight minutes of life – to figure out a terrorist plot and prevent a dirty bomb from destroying downtown Chicago. The suspense was killer – and we want more time-warped missions for our unlikely hero.