All right Hollywood: we really were joking about the list of films not being adapted into TV shows becoming shorter than those that are. You didn’t need to throw another one on to the pile just to prove a point. But because it’s happening anyway, here’s the news that 2009 animal comedy drama Marley & Me is spawning a TV-based sequel{
According to The Hollywood Reporter, former Sex And The City writer/producer Jenny Bicks has scored the job of overseeing the show for 20th Century Fox Television (whose partner company Fox 2000 co-produced the movie) and US network NBC.
The show will reportedly pick up where the adaptation of John Groban’s book left off, and finds John (Owen Wilson in the movie but not here) and Jenny (Jennifer Aniston, ditto) packing up and moving back to Florida with their kids so that John can start writing his newspaper column again.
Though they still miss the boundless energy of Marley who – sorrowful spoiler alert – died at the end of the film, the show will see them taking in a stray puppy who ends up named 'Marley' because the pair clearly has no imagination uses their old pooch’s lead and tags on the new, female arrival. And yes, she’s just as much of a handful.
And the TV production company has apparently learned the lessons of the scrapped Say Anything adaptation – Marley director David Frankel is an executive producer and will direct the pilot if it reaches that point.