It has to be unacknowledged that the 80s was the year Hollywood really graduated into taking big risks, even without the possibility of a big pay-off. Several unconventional, genre-bending ideas were made into films that were ahead of their time or maybe just too real for the mainstream audiences.
In the golden age of serialized streaming, some of the unforgettable 80s movie premises need to make their way onto Netflix in an original show format, especially films that had to pack in quite a few dynamite storylines in just two hours. Now is their time to enjoy a new format and Netflix seems to have the resources to make it happen.
10 Raging Bull
It's unclear why this fantastic study of masculinity hasn’t received the in-depth, serialized treatment yet, but if someone does decide to work on the audacious material, Jake LaMotta’s story could make for a timely look at the concept of manhood, especially through a contemporary lens.
Martin Scorsese’s work was praised for its complex approach towards fame and glory, especially because the celebrated lightweight boxer doesn’t fit the stereotypical mold of a sports hero. Moreover, Netflix doesn’t have a lot of legitimate sports-led dramas that can offer a no-nonsense look at the industry of that time.
9 Labyrinth
Fans don't know why Ryan Murphy hasn’t lapped up the source material for Labyrinth for a grand musical show. A goblin king? The many outrageous wig opportunities? The creature shop puppets? Everything about this project screams Netflix original.
Sure, finding a replacement for David Bowie is going to be tricky, but it’s surely not impossible, especially with some minor creative tweaks. The 1986 film was inspired by conceptual sketches by fantasy illustrator Brian Froud and that gives the makers a lot of room to play around with the themes and design and add quirky graphics.
8 Working Girl
In an ideal world, Working Girl would be a serialized show about how Melanie Griffith calls out sketchy bosses and exploitative work cultures across corporate America. But now is the perfect time to make a show that can explore gender dynamics at the modern workplace, and maybe even star Griffith's superstar daughter Dakota Johnson as the lead?
Fans can only hope. But on a serious note, Working Girl was an iconic film because it was so ahead of its time and was ready to have a discussion that people weren't and that's the kind of energy everyone needs when it comes to binge-watching content.
7 The Thing
John Carpenter’s The Thing deserves the prestige TV treatment, helmed of course, by Waters himself. But a mini-series reboot of this film could the epitome of excellent streaming. The cult monster movie is about a group of American researchers who encounter a mysteriously feral, shape-shifter dog at their Antarctica base camp and have to battle it out to survive and escape.
It was revealed this year that The Thing reboot is in development, and Waters himself is involved, but the premise this thrilling and well-designed clearly needs a lot more room to develop.
6 Fatal Attraction
Sex thrillers have disappointed many people lately. What If, for instance, couldn’t even be saved by Renee Zellweger herself. Fatal Attraction is a cult movie that could be really good show material, especially with the right director. The movie took an unsettling look at entitlement and how deadly passion can be if channeled wrong.
Glenn Close’s most famous role to date is definitely her stint in this movie in which she played the unstable Alex Forrest, which is one character that is still used to describe the ‘crazy ex’ cliche. But this is also why the movie needs to be remade as a show because it has so much to unpack and the subject matter could really breathe with the added time.
5 Top Gun
Netflix has enough high school shows, but a fighter weapons school with some old school rivalry-led drama and impeccable fighter pilot stunts? What else would Netflix loyalists need? The Top Gun reboot aside, the film could focus on Pete and Goose’s training, their shenanigans, the young romances, Iceman’s Malfoy-esque aura, and several other perspectives.
Sure, Tom Cruise probably won’t say yes to a small screen venture, and couldn’t actually play a young pilot, but maybe the internet’s newest boyfriend, Jacob Elordi, could fill the shoes since the teen drama circuit obviously loves him.
4 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
The world needs a new Ferris Bueller and Matthew Broderick to perhaps return as the annoying Mr. Rooney. The show probably wouldn’t be about a day off and doesn’t have to be set in the 80s, but there was an element of breezy innocence in the film that is hugely missing from new high school focused shows, possibly because sophomores’ really do have bigger problems today.
A new Ferris Bueller show could explore the lighter side of the school-going experience and Gen-Z’s camaraderie with their teachers.
3 Princess Bride
How is Princess Bride not a full-blown, high-budget period drama, yet? A reboot was reportedly being planned for Quibi, but after the service shut down, it’s now perhaps time to consider developing the iconic film into something like a 10-episode show.
The film had to wrap up the story in an hour and 38 minutes, however, the sweeping love story, the action, and the good-natured thrills would make for a fantastic, stream-worthy show. Princess Bride was never a rom-com per se, but had a genre-bending quality to it and maybe the show could explore this aspect more keenly.
2 When Harry Met Sally
Whoever thought of this iconic rom-com as a film and not a show clearly messed up. Sure, it’s a great movie that keeps it real and yet somehow is adorably unassuming, but the film’s premise is designed for the serialized treatment. Two people who share an obvious connection and keep running into each other but never seem to get their timing right is something that could be really interesting to watch in the Tinder age.
Some fundamental elements would obviously need a facelift if a WHMS show is to be made in this era, but that is also why this plot needs to be made into a show.
1 Beetlejuice
The world needs horror fantasy shows and Netflix needs to cater to this need, so what could possibly be better than an episodic reboot of Beetlejuice? Besides the Haunting series, Netflix hasn’t really produced any fantasy-led horror shows or even cerebrally quirky ones.
The thing about Beetlejuice is that it collated several genres together under the guise of horror fantasy and had an undeniable interesting premise. A Beetlejuice premise would make for a terrific Netflix show, and maybe Alec Baldwin would consider returning since his Saturday Night Live stint as Donald Trump has come to an end?
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