"Television is the new movies," or at least that's what super-producer Irwin Winkler is banking on. As you found out earlier today, the Oscar-winner has signed a deal with Sony Pictures TV that will allow him to translate his films into series, starting with The Net. Which of his other films are right for the small screen, though? Ahead Movieline loads up his IMDb page and comes up with six fool-proof series pitches. Networks, pay attention.
· Rocky
The Pitch: Remember The Contender? It'll be like that. Twelve Rocky Balboa clones compete in the ring to take an Adrian-like woman to the zoo. Think: Jersey Shore with more punching.
The Network: Spike TV
· Raging Bull
The Pitch: Everyone already knows about Jake LaMotta's early years, so let's just focus on the bookend parts of the movie: Fat Jake LaMotta. Cast James Gandolfini -- or failing him, Steven R. Schirripa -- hire a former Sopranos writer and, go!
The Network: HBO
· The Right Stuff
The Pitch: Forget the stuffy HBO mini-series From Earth to the Moon; the space program in the '60s was a swinging-dick affair more like Mad Men than anything else. A television version of that would actually be awesome.
The Network: AMC (please, AMC, please)
· The Juror
The Pitch: Part reality show, part whodunit, The Juror would feature 12 different people each week competing to see which of their brethren was compromised by a mafia hitman. The audience interaction possibilities on this one are endless!
The Network: Fox
· At First Sight
The Pitch: Pushed by his girlfriend, a blind man undergoes surgery to regain his eyesight and must overcome the changes in his life. But it's a comedy! Can you imagine what Chuck Lorre could do with blind jokes?
The Network: CBS
· Life as a House
The Pitch: First, get rid of that depressing terminal cancer subplot. Then, reconfigure this sappy movie as a spin-off of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition with former banking executives doing the remodeling. Fun and topical!
The Network: ABC