Since NBC’s little-seen but much-loved drama Friday Night Lights finished its fifth season in 2011, fans have pushed for the show’s producers, Peter Berg and Brian Grazer, to get rolling on a film update to the series. Unfortunately, Connie Britton, who played the coach’s wife on the show and in the 2004 film, recently told TV personality Andy Cohen that a movie is not in the cards, since her onscreen husband, Kyle Chandler, is uninterested to reprise his role.
On Watch What Happens Live, she told Cohen, “I love the idea. I think it would be a great idea. But my former husband, Coach Eric Taylor…,” referring to the strict but wholehearted character that Kyle Chandler played for five seasons (and won an Emmy for in 2011).
Chandler already confirmed that he’s not interested in an interview with MTV News back in December, saying, “They ended it at exactly the right time, in exactly the right way as well.” It seems that supporters of this film gain very few yards without his involvement.
Although many of the series regulars, including Taylor Kitsch (John Carter), Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) and Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad), have seen their profiles rise since Friday Night Lights went off the air, their combined star power would not be enough to give a forthcoming movie enough of a budget. Besides, the final few episodes did a superb job at giving finality to many of the storylines. It would also be foolish to have a movie exist without Kyle Chandler, the anchor of the series. It wouldn’t be the same having Billy Bob Thornton return as the coach.
In the meantime, Kyle Chandler has stacked up an impressive resume since the show ended. With supporting parts in Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, The Spectacular Now and the upcoming The Wolf of Wall Street, the actor is giving clear-eyed, full-hearted performances. As fans of Friday Night Lights know, with the career path he’s on, he simply can’t lose.