The Wrap reports that Fox is yanking the cord from the Zoltar machine. For those craving another dose of bodyswap comedy hijinks, prepare yourself for another trip to the world of Big.
The network has acquired the title with plans to adapt the original movie into an event series told through 30 minute episodes. Penny Marshall’s original 1988 caper told the story of Josh Baskin, a 13-year old kid who makes a wish on a fortune-telling arcade machine. The next morning he wakes to find that his dream – to become ‘big’ – has become a reality. Whether or not he also muttered that he’d like to look like Tom Hanks is by the by, as the floppy-haired actor absolutely killed it as the kid trapped in the body of an adult.
Shepherding this move to the small screen are TV comedy pioneers, Kevin Beigel and Mike Royce. The executive producers behind Fox’s military smash Enlisted will be on board to executive produce and write the body-change comedy serial. How they’ll amend the story to suit an event series is an exciting prospect, as the premise “will explore what it means to be an adult and what it means to be a kid, and how in today’s world those two things are more confused than ever.” The pair have extensive experience in bringing to light the comedic strains of everyday situations, from Beigel’s involvement on Cougar Town and Royce’s stint on Men Of A Certain Age. Taking that into account, their take on Big has the potential to be… huge.
This news shines a light on the spinoff TV show trend, which is picking up momentum. Big is the second feature film in the last month that Fox has acquired for development. Their reboot of Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report stirred up positive chatter with the possibility of a female lead heading up the pre-crime adventures. Whether or not they’ll adopt a similar strategy for Big is something that only time will tell.