Do you miss the futuristic cyberpunk world of “Minority Report,” the 2002 film starring Tom Cruise and Jessica Capshaw? Well, you might get to immerse yourself in this universe again soon, now that Steven Spielberg is working on a “Minority Report” television series with Max Borenstein, the scriptwriter behind the recent Godzilla feature film.
This could be an extremely interesting spin on your everyday televised crime drama. Instead of working backward from evidence at the scene of the crime and hunting down scores of bad guys, will we get to see the PreCrime team in action, arresting wrongdoers before they even get a chance to commit a misdeed? The details are sparse, but it looks like this freaky psychic crime story will be coming to life soon on our television screens.
Literary Themed Crime Procedurals
If plans for the upcoming “Minority Report” show pulls through, then viewers might get to add another literature-inspired crime drama to their plates. The 2002 film was based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, who is also known for several other futuristic cyberpunk classics, such as “”Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and “A Scanner Darkly,” which inspired their own film adaptations.
His works often deal with invasive future technologies affecting our lives and destroying our privacy. “Minority Report” might be stepping onto the crime drama court with other book-inspired favorites, such as NBC’s Hannibal, which pulls inspiration from the Thomas Harris novels and extensive film lore. It’s possible that these shows could usher in a new era of brainy crime dramas pulled from literature.
The Coat Tails of the Film
While Spielberg’s “Minority Report” feature film was released well over a decade ago, fans aren’t likely to forget the thrill and dread of the world depicted on the big screen. After all, if psychic powers were real, it doesn’t seem like a stretch that our government would use “precogs” to snoop on our everyday activities and thoughts in a post-Snowden world. In fact, one could argue that our current reality is already similar to “Minority Report,” with authorities tracking down potential troublemakers with drones, surveillance cameras, and social media monitoring.
Philip K. Dick’s fiction is so haunting because these worlds seem like possible futures. The film brought in over $358 million worldwide at the box office, making it a smash hit. It seems likely that a “Minority Report” series could rekindle the fandom for die-hard film enthusiasts and viewers who are new to the lore. After all, how can you resist rooting for the underdogs when they are surrounded by invasive advertising tactics and retina scans?
Very little is known about the upcoming “Minority Report” television series, aside from Max Bornstein’s future participation in the project. According to Spielberg’s IMDB listing , he’s got a lot on his plate with The BFG, Indiana Jones 5, and The Adventures of Tintin. So it will likely be quite some time before we start hearing a buzz about a future series airdate. But the precogs probably already know about it.
