When a show is abruptly canceled, many of its viewers are left heartbroken by a cliffhanger or an unsatisfying ending. A lot of television programs have been discontinued before they reached their peak due to numerous reasons. Fortunately, a select handful were adapted into feature films to provide their audience with more material and a fitting conclusion.
However, making a TV show into a movie isn't done for only that reason. Some want to use feature films as a broader, longer platform to tell a story, while others merely need to use it as a platform to properly say goodbye to the characters who are most loved by the audience.
'Peaky Blinders' (2013 - 2022): Untitled Movie (2024)
Peaky Blinders is set at the beginning of 1919, six months after the end of the First World War, it focuses on a family with mixed Irish Traveler and Romani ancestry based in Birmingham, England. The show follows Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), the ambitious and clever crime leader of the Peaky Blinders street gang.
BBC announced that its 7th season would be presented as a feature film after its 6th season concluded in 2022. The movie's synopsis has yet to be written even though the screenplay is virtually complete as it was last updated. The series' principal actors will return with its possible release date in 2024.
'Sex and the City' (1998 - 2004): 'Sex and the City: The Movie' (2008)
Sex and the City is a romantic comedy-drama created by Darren Star which is an adaptation of the same-titled 1996 book anthology by Candace Bushnell, published as a newspaper column. The show is set in New York City and centers on the lives of four women, who are inseparable and confide in one another despite having varied personalities and ever-evolving sex lives.
Before the reboot was announced, two feature films were released after the TV series ended in 2004. The first film under the title Sex and the City: The Movie was released in 2008 and centers on Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mr. Big's (Chris Noth) plan of moving in and getting married. While the second installment released in 2010 focuses on the gang’s all-expense paid trip to Abu Dhabi for Samantha's (Kim Cattral) job.
'Breaking Bad' (2008 - 2013): 'El Camino' (2019)
Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad centers on Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a dejected high school chemistry teacher who turns to a life of crime by collaborating with his former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to create and sell methamphetamine in order to provide for his family before he dies of lung cancer.
After Breaking Bad's first five seasons of critical and popular acclaim, the series’s feature film, El Camino was released in 2019, six years after the series' conclusion. Following Jesse Pinkman as he faces the consequences of his actions in the show. As a runaway trying to find a way to start again, Jesse puts his life in jeopardy and solicits deadly favors in an effort to go to Alaska.
'The X-Files' (1993 - 2002): 'The X-Files: I Want to Believe' (2008)
The X-Files centers on Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as they look into cases known as “X-Files,” which are unsolved paranormal cases.
The program spanned 11 seasons and has two motion pictures. The first film, The X-Files, concentrated on the extraterrestrial elements that were a recurring topic in the show and are set between the fifth and sixth seasons. Ten years after the conclusion of the series, the second film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, was released, and it took a new turn. In contrast to movies that concentrate on extraterrestrial mythology, this one was intended to be a stand-alone horror thriller.
'Firefly' (2002): 'Serenity' (2005)
Firefly follows the "Firefly-class" starship Serenity and its rebellious crew as they go on adventures in the year 2517 after mankind has settled in a new solar system. The program examines the lives of a group of individuals, some of whom served in combat for the defeated side in a civil war and who now live on the periphery of society as a result of the pioneer culture prevalent in their star system.
Serenity, the show’s feature film released in 2005 and features the original cast reprising their roles. The plot of the Space Western film goes more into River's (Summer Glau) past and how the Alliance trained her to be a psychic assassin.
'Entourage' (2004 - 2011): 'Entourage' (2015)
Entourage follows the acting careers of young A-list movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his buddies from Queens, New York City, as they try to advance their fledgling careers in Los Angeles. They develop over the course of the series from young children from Queens to performers and producers as they seek out funds and backing to try to shoot Vincent's ideal movie.
The 2015 movie picked up right after the show ended with the same title that continues to follow Chase as he is offered a part in a film he’s making by his former agent-turned-studio head, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven).
'Twin Peaks' (1990 - 2017): 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' (1992)
Twin Peaks is a mystery serial drama TV series set in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington, and covers an investigation into the death of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), led by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and the local sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean).
The show’s feature film which serves as its prequel under the name Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me focused on Laura's final seven days, was released in 1992. Fire Walk With Me is on another level, as the movie is incomprehensible even to aficionados of the series, despite the fact that the movie continues the storylines of the original show.
'Deadwood' (2004 - 2006): 'Deadwood: The Movie' (2019)
Deadwood follows the development of Deadwood from a camp to a town in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, both before and after the region was annexed by the Dakota Territory. The show contains characters’ storylines that have both significant fictitious elements and historical truths.
Deadwood: The Movie, which was released in 2019, is set ten years after the events of the original series and follows dignitaries and the majority of the series regulars as they are assembled to commemorate South Dakota's statehood. The movie provides the viewers with closure in a manner that few other TV shows turned movies can, as the TV show's conclusion wasn't entirely gratifying.
'Futurama' (1999 - ): 'Futurama: Bender's Big Score' (2007)
Futurama centers on Philip J. Fry (Billy West), a professional slacker who is cryogenically stored for a thousand years and then resurrected on December 31, 2999. Along with the robot Bender (John DiMaggio) and one-eyed Leela (Katey Sagal), Fry gets employment at an interplanetary delivery service.
Futurama has had way too many series finales due to network indecision and an early cancelation that was ultimately overturned. The initial incident occurred when Comedy Central chose to terminate the series with four straight-to-DVD features, making the previous cancelation after season four irrelevant. The first movie was Futurama: Bender's Big Score and followed by Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs, Futurama: Bender's Game, and, finally, Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder.
'Batman: The Animated Series' (1992 - 1995): 'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm' (1993)
Based on the DC Comics character, Batman: The Animated Series follows Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy), heir to the wealth of the Wayne family, who spends his days as an opulent playboy wealthy socialite while at night he transforms into his vigilante alter ego, The Batman, to battle crime.
Released between seasons one and two, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, which is a direct sequel to the show, had its own theatrical debut. The plot centers on Batman as he struggles to deal with the reappearance of Andrea, his fiancée who suddenly vanished ten years earlier, and a shadowy creature known as the Phantasm. The biggest gangsters in Gotham are being targeted by Phantasm, but Batman is being held responsible.