Billy Bob Thornton owned the role of Coach Gaines in 2004’s Friday Night Lights, which is partially why it was so surprising for Kyle Chandler to own the role of Coach Taylor in a completely distinctive way when the television show hit in 2006. That pilot is one of the best produced in the past ten years, and it launched a hell of a series. That series which was borne out of the big screen now looks to make the jump back to its roots.
“We have a real good script idea. We want to do it. We’re very serious about doing it. We intend to do it,” director and show creator Peter Berg told TVLine. He went on to describe the concept as one that revolves around Chandler and Connie Britton (who plays his wife in the series). The other roles would ostensibly be new characters taken up by new actors – the benefit of working with characters in high school.
That very thing is a big structural part of why the show worked. New seasons would mean new seasons, and the audience would have to say goodbye to some and learn to like (or hate) newcomers. That won’t benefit a movie as well, but at its heart, it’s a story about sports and the impact they have on a small town in Texas. That’s a pretty classic story on its own. Now to see if Brian Robbins and James Van Der Beek have a new football movie in the works for 2012.