The 20 Best Movies Based on TV Shows

Based on: Downton Abbey (ITV/PBS, 2010-15)

After wrapping up a six-season run on British and American television, Julian Fellowes' soapy costume drama Downton Abbey moved to the big screen for a pair of films that continued the stories of many of the show's remaining characters. (A third and likely final film is currently in pre-production.)

The best of those films so far is the first one: 2019's Downton Abbey, which finds the British royal family visiting the titular home of the Crawley family in 1927. Critics complained that the result was a bit too busy with subplots that go nowhere, but they also lauded the charming performances and the sumptuous visuals that looked even more stunning on the big screen than they did on TV. The sequel scored just one point lower despite a truly bizarre storyline that finds some of the Crawleys and their servants suddenly becoming filmmakers.

"The biggest narrative justification for 'Downton' getting feature treatment might be the sweeping quality to all the character developments and showcase moments being juggled here. The intricacy is managed without ever playing like Fellowes took a couple of routine postscript episodes and simply stitched them together." —Tom Russo, Boston Globe

Based on: Monk (USA, 2002-09)

Though it hasn't experienced a recent streaming resurgence like Suits, Monk is actually the show that kicked off the USA Network's decade-plus run of success fueled by breezy, so-called "blue sky" dramas. The Emmy-winning dramedy series starred Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk, an OCD-plagued private detective whose specialty was solving unusual cases in San Francisco.

In 2023, Shalhoub returned to the role one last time for a streaming feature film set a dozen years after the finale, in which Monk comes out of retirement to tackle a case involving his stepdaughter Molly (Caitlin McGee) as she prepares for her wedding. Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, Ted Levine, Hector Elizondo, and Melora Hardin also reprised their roles from the series. Even if the results didn't seem anything more than a supersized episode of a TV series, well, that was enough for fans who missed seeing their favorite detective.

"Even though the cast helps to nurture the sense of nostalgia in the film, it doesn't prevent the screenplay from failing to match the tone of the OG series." —Isabella Soares, Collider

Based on: Mystery Science Theater 3000 (KTMA/Comedy Channel/Comedy Central/Sci-Fi, 1988-99)

One of just two movies on this list to reach theaters while the show it was based on was still on the air, Mystery Science Theater 3000 adapts the long-running movie-riffing series of the same name. It's actually a daffy concept for a movie to begin with, since—like the show—it features sketches and comedic commentary wrapped around and over a feature-length, previously released film made by somebody else. In this case, it's the 1955 sci-fi B-movie This Island Earth that MST3K characters Mike (Michael J. Nelson) and his bots are forced to watch aboard their satellite by a mad scientist. (Don't even ask us how they eat and breathe.) Critics felt that the concept worked nearly as well on the big screen than it did on TV, though the film version was perhaps even more of a cult item than the show as it failed to break $1 million at the box office.

"In a movie theater, at least, there are other people to hear you laugh, and the film of MST3K already seems a more communal, less onanistic experience." —Dave Kehr, New York Daily News

Based on: Miami Vice (NBC, 1984-90)

The color palette certainly changed, but the concept—a pair of Miami cops on the vice beat who go undercover to catch drug traffickers—didn't. More importantly, the man behind the scenes didn't change. Make that the Mann behind the scenes: Michael Mann, who returned to write and direct the 2006 film adaptation of the iconic 1980s cop series that he created.

Starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as Crockett and Tubbs, the roles originated by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, Miami Vice didn't quite make enough money to cover its surprisingly substantial budget. But even though the director himself has expressed disappointment with how the film turned out, plenty of critics admire its visual flair and its noir-ish feel.

"Mixing pop savvy with startling formal ambition, Mr. Mann transforms what is essentially a long, fairly predictable cop-show episode into a dazzling (and sometimes daft) Wagnerian spectacle." —A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Based on: I'm Alan Partridge (BBC2, 1997-2002), et al

A bumbling but egotistical TV and radio presenter played by Steve Coogan and created by Coogan along with future Veep creator Armando Iannucci in 1991, the iconic British comedy figure Alan Partridge has popped up in just about every conceivable medium, including radio, books, streaming video, podcasts, and TV. The latter category includes multiple shows in which Partridge is the lead character, and together they trace a continuing story that finds him at one point losing his BBC gig (after accidentally shooting a guest on his talk show) and becoming a small-town overnight radio DJ before eventually returning to TV.

It is during Partridge's fall from grace at radio station North Norfolk Digital that 2013's Alpha Papa—surprisingly the only Partridge feature film to date—takes place. Following a change in ownership, the staff at the station are facing layoffs, and one soon-to-be-unemployed DJ (played by Colm Meaney) responds by holding the station offices hostage at gunpoint. Surprisingly, Patridge is enlisted to negotiate with the gunman. Less surprising: The results are smart and funny.

"The genius of Alpha Papa, then, is in remaining faithful to Partridge's small-screen soul while also managing the demands of a big-screen Alan." —Catherine Shoard, The Guardian

Based on: Star Trek: The Next Generation (syndication, 1987-94)

After wrapping the seventh and final season of the first Star Trek follow-up TV series, the TNG cast moved to the big screen for four feature film sequels. Two of those were either mediocre or dreadful (depending upon whom you ask), while another is somewhat forgettable. But the remaining film—the second of the four—is genuinely good.

Directed by Jonathan Frakes (who also returns to play Will Riker), 1996's First Contact finds the Enterprise crew once again battling the Borg. But there are differences. Not only is there now a Borg Queen (played here by Alice Krige), but the Borg have used time travel to alter the history of Earth, forcing our heroes to go back in time themselves—to 2063—and correct history so that Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) perfects the warp drive on schedule and makes first contact with friendly alien life. It plays out rather splendidly with a balanced mix of action, suspense, and genuine emotion, and the result is both the best and most financially successful of the four TNG films.

"Blessed with clever plot devices and a villainous horde that makes the once-dread Klingons seem like a race of Barneys, First Contact does everything you'd want a 'Star Trek' film to do, and it does it with cheerfulness and style." —Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Based on: Star Trek (NBC, 1966-69)

After a short-lived animated spinoff and a failed attempt at a TV revival in the mid-1970s, the cult classic sci-fi series Star Trek made the jump to the big screen with 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Five (or six, depending upon how you count Generations) sequels followed, but you know all that. You also know that the best film in the series is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. (That's just fact.) But which of the original cast Star Trek films scored the highest with critics? That would be 1986's The Voyage Home.

The most overtly comedic film in the series, Star Trek IV finds your favorite former Enterprise crew members traveling back in time to then-present-day Earth (specifically, San Francisco) to prevent a 23rd century alien attack—by saving a pair of whales, naturally—while trying to both blend in and remember where they parked. Leonard Nimoy pulls double duty by playing a reborn Spock and directing the film, and his deft touch with the slightly silly but charming story resonated with moviegoers, who made Voyage Home the second-highest-grossing Star Trek film among those with the original cast. Co-star William Shatner could not pull off the same feat when he directed the follow-up—by far the worst Star Trek film with any cast.

"This is easily the most absurd of the 'Star Trek' stories - and yet, oddly enough, it is also the best, the funniest and the most enjoyable in simple human terms. I'm relieved that nothing like restraint or common sense stood in their way." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Based on: 21 Jump Street (Fox/syndication, 1987-91)

Perhaps the best example of turning a lackluster TV title (Metascore: 13) into movie gold, the action-comedy films 21 Jump Street (2012) and 22 Jump Street find the team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (also behind hits The LEGO Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) adapting the long-forgotten teen cop drama series 21 Jump Street. The closest thing to a hit airing during the Fox Broadcasting Company's inaugural season in 1986-87, Jump Street is best known as the show that launched the career of Johnny Depp (and, theoretically, Richard Grieco).

There's little Depp to be found in the two films (though he does make a brief appearance in the first); instead, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum play cops who (rather implausibly) must go undercover as high school students (college students in the sequel) to bust a drug ring. The second of the two films, 22 Jump Street, actually scored two points higher than the first, making this one of the few instances of a sequel outshining (slightly) the original film. Both films were also box office hits, though 22 Jump Street outperformed its predecessor financially as well as critically.

"It's laugh-packed, self-aware in a manner that lets everyone in on the joke, and goofily satisfying in the action department." —John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

Based on: Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008-2013)

Who would even attempt to follow up the greatest television series of all time with a spinoff centering on a comic-relief side character? And who would also follow up that first series with a seemingly unnecessary feature film coda wrapping up the only small plot threads left unaddressed by the series finale? The answer: Vince Gilligan. And in both cases, they turned out to be the right moves.

Sure, 2019's Netflix-exclusive El Camino isn't mandatory viewing to complete your Breaking Bad experience. But this story of Jesse Pinkman's (Aaron Paul) escape from captivity is assembled with the same care (and terrific performances) evident throughout the entire series. Not only does it provide a satisfying conclusion to Pinkman's journey, but the film also gives fans one last chance to spend time with actors who played parts large and small throughout Bad, including the late Robert Forster, who died the day the film premiered.

"While it strikes a different visual tone and moves at a faster pace than many of the TV show episodes (as one might expect from a feature-length story), thanks to Gilligan's masterful writing and directing, and the bold and powerful and layered performance from Aaron Paul, it's an extended epilogue quite worthy of the 'Breaking Bad' brand." —Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

Based on: The Fall Guy (ABC, 1981-86)

Why make a movie adaptation of The Fall Guy, a Lee Majors-led 1980s action/drama series that was never particularly great to begin with and does not appear to be available to stream anywhere these days? One reason: Very little was actually borrowed from the Glen A. Larson-created series aside from its title and subject matter: the world of Hollywood stunt performers.

Instead, 2024's The Fall Guy is just an excuse for the Hobbs & Shaw (excuse us: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw) team of writer Drew Pearce and director David Leitch to have fun in this world of stunts—seemingly the perfect setting for an action-comedy film. It's also an excuse to put last year's Barbie co-star Ryan Gosling back in another highly entertaining, crowd-pleasing summer movie. While it likely won't come anywhere near Barbie's box office numbers, The Fall Guy offers summer moviegoers a slightly silly but fun ride—and a genuinely impressive display of stuntwork.

"This is a ridiculously fun movie, anchored by a movie star in a part that fits him perfectly and a director who really has been working toward this film for his entire career." —Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

Based on: Firefly (Fox, 2002)

It's hard to find a "Canceled Too Soon" list that doesn't include Joss Whedon's 2002 space western Firefly, which followed the 26th century adventures of the crew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity. Fox pulled the plug on the series after 11 episodes aired (14 were filmed), but the show gained a cult following after a release on home video.

That later success led a different studio—Universal—to greenlight a feature film continuation of Firefly. The result was the Whedon-directed 2005 film Serenity, which returned the show's entire cast (led by Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Gina Torres, and Adam Baldwin) and added Chiwetel Ejiofor. Like the show, Serenity was a financial failure despite its relatively small budget, but critics and fans were happy to have some of the show's unresolved ongoing storylines wrapped up decisively—if a bit tragically.

"A brash, funny, action-packed bit of sci-fi ecstasy--and a giant raspberry to the execs who let 'Firefly' fall out of the sky." —Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune

Based on: Jackass (MTV, 2000-01)

Co-created by Johnny Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine, and Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze, the reality/stunt/prank show Jackass ran for just 25 episodes over the course of a single year on MTV in the early 21st century. And then, rather than fade into oblivion, Jackass became a multimedia pop culture phenomenon spanning multiple theatrically released films, streaming features, and TV specials. The best of the films, according to critics, is the most recent theatrically released one: 2021's Tremaine-directed Jackass Forever, which added a handful of new cast members to the core group of intrepid daredevils who had been with the franchise since its MTV origins (minus, for the most part, the fired Bam Margera).

"Jackass Forever is ingenious, disgusting, and one of the most hysterical films you'll see this year, while also managing to be a wonderfully touching celebration of these jackasses and their history together." —Ross Bonaime, Collider

Based on: Police Squad! (ABC, 1982)

Created by the team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker as a vehicle for their Airplane! star Leslie Nielsen, the slapstick cop show spoof Police Squad! is one of the funniest and shortest-lived TV comedies of the 20th century, running just four episodes until cancellation. (Two additional episodes aired a few months later). But while nobody watched the show, moviegoers flocked to this unlikely film sequel, directed by David Zucker and returning Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin, who in the film attempts to foil a plot hatched by villain Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalbán) to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II at a baseball game in Anaheim—with real-life MLB star Reggie Jackson as the would-be assassin!—with the help of his colleague Det. Nordberg, played by former football player and future convict O.J. Simpson. It's about as zany as it sounds, but it somehow works wonderfully.

Two sequels followed, and each of those also received positive reviews, making Naked Gun the rare film comedy franchise to have a perfect record. That achievement will be put to the test in 2025 when The Naked Gun is rebooted with funnyman* Liam Neeson essentially replacing Leslie Nielsen. (Is it because their names are so similar?)

* Link unavailable.

"More juvenile than a Mel Brooks movie, wittier than 'Get Smart,' almost as low as 'Animal House' and close to the laugh count of 'Airplane!', 'Gun' is a loving parody of every cop show that ever syndicated its way to your living room." —Desson Howe [Thomson], The Washington Post

Based on: The Untouchables (ABC, 1959-63)

Like the TV series that preceded it, Brian De Palma's 1987 period crime thriller retells (with great liberties) the true story of the efforts of a team of American government agents—led by Eliot Ness—to bring down the notorious Prohibition-era gangster Al Capone. Based in part on that TV show and Ness's own book recounting his involvement, the David Mamet-scripted film stars Kevin Costner as Ness and Robert De Niro as Capone, plus Sean Connery and Andy Garcia.

That star power helped to make The Untouchables a box office success—positive reviews certainly helped as well—and the film went on to score four Academy Award nominations including one for Connery, who went on to win his first career Oscar. Though it doesn't get quite the same level of attention today as other gangster films, it remains a classic of the genre thanks to a combination of terrific directing, writing, and performances (plus an Ennio Morricone score for good measure).

"Mamet's elegantly efficient script does not waste a word, and De Palma does not waste a shot. The result is a densely layered work moving with confident, compulsive energy." —Richard Schickel, Time

Based on: Star Trek (NBC, 1966-69)

The original Star Trek television series launched not one but two film franchises: one with the original cast, and a 21st century reboot series set in an alternate timeline (aka the "Kelvin timeline") and featuring a new cast of actors playing familiar characters from TOS. The first and best-reviewed entry in this newer film series is 2009's action-packed Star Trek, directed by J.J. Abrams and written by his Fringe collaborators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Introducing Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Bones, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, and Anton Yelchin as Chekov—plus a dramatically redesigned Enterprise—the film is the highest-grossing and highest-scoring Star Trek film of any kind even though it makes numerous changes in tone, style, and content from Gene Roddenberry's original vision.

Abrams would return to produce a pair of sequels—2013's Abrams-directed Into Darkness and 2016's Beyond from director Justin Lin—to diminishing critical and financial returns. (There have been multiple plans for a fourth film in the ensuing years, with various writers and directors attached, but Paramount has yet to greenlight production on any project.) And Kurtzman would go on to shepherd the revival of Star Trek on the small screen, beginning with 2017's Discovery.

"A burst of pure filmmaking exhilaration that manages to pay homage to the classic 1960s TV series and still boldly go where no man, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy included, has gone before." —Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Based on: The Thick of It (BBC4/BBC2, 2005-12)

Before creating the Emmy-winning comedy Veep for HBO, Armando Iannucci lampooned the British government with the similar—and similarly terrific—BBC comedy series The Thick of It, set in a low-level UK government department. Though the cast changed a bit from season to season, the show's main constant was Peter Capaldi's foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker.

Following the show's second season, Iannucci directed In the Loop, a film spinoff featuring Capaldi's Tucker and many other of the TV show's cast members (confusingly, some playing different characters) as they meet with their American counterparts in Washington during a budding crisis. The political comedy, also starring James Gandolfini, Tom Hollander, and future Veep stars Anna Chlumsky and Zach Woods, was widely praised by critics for its rapid-fire dialogue, and the film earned an Oscar nomination for its screenwriters (a group that included future Succession creator Jesse Armstrong).

"The language is brilliant, and the laugh lines come so quickly that you'd probably have to watch the movie twice to get them all." —Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Based on: Deadwood (HBO, 2004-06)

Despite being hailed as one of TV's all-time great shows, David Milch's profane, Emmy-winning HBO western series Deadwood—loosely based on true 1870s events—was canceled in 2006 after just three seasons. But HBO finally gave Milch an opportunity to wrap up the story with a feature-length finale in 2019, and it was as satisfying as fans dared to hope.

Set a decade after the events of the series, the movie returned nearly all of the original cast members still alive, including Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Molly Parker, Paula Malcomson, John Hawkes, Anna Gunn, Robin Weigert, Brad Dourif, William Sanderson, Kim Dickens, Dayton Callie, and Gerald McRaney. It will stand as the final work from longtime TV veteran Milch, who disclosed at the time of the film's announcement that he had been living with Alzheimer's disease for several years.

"The highest compliment you can pay 'Deadwood: The Movie' is that it is the continuation and the conclusion that both the series and its fans deserved. It's just that good. It's powerful, at times profound, at times bittersweet." —Mark Dawidziak, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Based on: The Fugitive (ABC, 1963-67)

When Dr. Richard Kimble is wrongly convicted of his wife's murder but manages to escape captivity prior to execution, he spends the next few years in search of the real killer—a mysterious, one-armed man—while simultaneously attempting to elude his police pursuer. That, at least, was the case for the popular, Emmy-winning 1960s drama series The Fugitive. In the 1993 movie adaptation, it takes Kimble a mere 130 minutes to get the job done.

Directed by Andrew Davis (Above the Law), the film finds Harrison Ford playing Kimble and an Oscar-winning Tommy Lee Jones as the U.S. Marshal who tracks his every move. Critics found it a taut, fun, expertly made action-thriller, and audiences seemed to agree: The Fugitive spent six weeks atop the box office charts. But a 1998 sequel/spinoff centering on Jones's character failed to connect with critics or moviegoers.

"It's a pleasure to find a thriller fulfilling its duties with such gusto: the emotions ring solid, the script finds time to relax into backchat, and for once the stunts look like acts of desperation rather than shows of prowess." —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

Based on: Mission: Impossible (CBS, 1966-73) and Mission: Impossible (ABC, 1988-90)

Is there any mission more impossible than creating a film series that seems to get better with each successive installment? You would think so, but that is pretty much the story of the Mission: Impossible franchise, which overcame a so-so start to improve with each outing (with the possible exception of 2023's Dead Reckoning). Centering on a team of covert government agents, the films—all starring Tom Cruise—continue the premise established in popular 1960s ABC series (and its much less popular Eighties sequel). Despite changing writers and directors with each new film, the film franchise managed to survive—and even thrive, financially—for its first four chapters. But once Christopher McQuarrie took over as writer and director with 2015's Rogue Nation, the franchise soared creatively, culminating in 2018's thrilling Fallout, easily one of the best action movies of the 21st century.

Fallout isn't just the best-reviewed film in the Mission: Impossible franchise; it's also the highest-grossing TV-to-film adaptation in history with nearly $800 million in receipts. The franchise as a whole has grossed over $4 billion so far, and an eighth film in the series is now scheduled for the summer of 2025.

"A combination of thrilling stunts, insane daring and clever writing make this a stunning piece of action cinema. Just be sure to take your heart meds first, and hold on tight." —Helen O'Hara, Empire

Based on: Da Ali G Show (Channel 4/HBO, 2000-04)

You know it better by its full title—say it with us now—Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, but this 2006 feature directed by former Seinfeld writer Larry Charles is simply one of the funniest film comedies of the 21st century. The second and best of the four films adapted from Sacha Baron Cohen's TV series (in both its British and American forms), Borat follows its titular Kazakhstani journalist (Baron Cohen) on a road trip through America where he mainly interacts with real people unaware that Borat is not also a real person. An Oscar nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay, Borat also earned Baron Cohen a well-deserved Golden Globe for his performance. Wa wa wee wa!

Two other films based on characters from Da Ali G Show, Bruno and Ali G Indahouse, were less favorably received by critics. But Baron Cohen unexpectedly revived his Borat character for a 2020 sequel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, that scored more highly.

"A comic put-on of awe-inspiring crudity and death-defying satire and by a long shot the funniest film of the year. It is 'Jackass' with a brain and Mark Twain with full frontal male nudity." —Ty Burr, Boston Globe