Ocean’s Eleven, Ted Lasso and the challenging state of the television business were all topics addressed by Channing Dungey, Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group, was at the Banff World Media Festival today.
In a Deadline-moderated panel at the Canadian event, Dungey teased that she has considered a remake of the classic heist film, which originally starred the Rat Pack including Frank Sinatra and a more recent version starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.
When asked what other Warner Bros. movie titles she has considered rebooting for television, she said, “I think about things like Ocean’s Eleven, for example. That kind of a caper film, which is a great two hour romp and what we might be able to do with that in sort of a limited series format, things like that might be kind of fun.”
“But there are just so many titles that it’s really more about someone walking into the office with a perspective or a point of view, or this is why we should do this in this way. It’s not like there’s one title that I’m like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to dust it off’. It’s more when I look at certain films and think, ‘Okay, this was an amazing two and a half hours. But if we had a longer period of time to explore those categories, or to tackle that story’, that’s really where the fun begins,” she added.
She also hasn’t given up hope that the world will see more Ted Lasso, in some form. The Apple series ran for three seasons and there’s been much speculation over the last year as to whether Jason Sudekis would be willing to do more.
Dungey said that Apple would like more Ted Lasso, whether it’s a fourth season or a spinoff set in the Ted Lasso universe.
“We’ve had conversations about all of the above. I think Jason Sudeikis is open to the idea, but I think he wants to have the right idea, which I appreciate it. We at Warner Bros. appreciate, Apple appreciates, because it’s the sort of thing where you don’t want to go do more, just for the sake of more, you want to go do more, because you actually have something to say, you have a story that you want to tell. We’ll see what happens,” she added.
Dungey, who took the job in October 2020, six months into the pandemic, before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and the dual Hollywood strikes. She discussed the difficulties surrounding the business right now.
“These are the challenges that everyone’s facing, because the business is at a really critical period of evolution, a lot of things are changing, the way consumers find and consume media continues to be disrupted. The economics of the situation continue to be difficult. You have a lot of companies that are going through consolidation and a lot of change, which for us as a studio that sells everywhere, the buyers keeps shifting and changing and morphing,” she said.
The post Warner Bros. TV Boss Channing Dungey Considers ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ TV Remake, Doesn’t Give Up Hope Of More ‘Ted Lasso’ – Banff appeared first on Deadline.
