C’mon Hollywood #161

… end Lost with a movie!
by Sturdy

I have to admit that when I saw the first preview for Lost on TV, I thought for sure it was going to be a dramatic interpretation of Gilligan’s Island. I didn’t think there was any way they could keep the story remotely interesting for more than a season or two. There’s only so many coconut radios that an audience can stomach. But it didn’t take long for me to reverse my stance and hail Lost as one of the greatest shows on television, maybe even of all time.

I didn’t have high hopes in the beginning

I hesitate to rank it with the all-time greats, mainly because I need to see how it ends. If the last scene is Jack waking up in his bedroom and saying something like “whew, that was a vivid dream” then I’m going to start throwing crap balls at the TV. But really, how in the world could they possibly end the show and have it live up to what we’ve seen so far? Basically, I don’t think they’ll be able to do it on television. An event like the conclusion of Lost needs to be left to the big screen, which is why we need to end Lost with a feature-length film.

But I started to warm up to it…

J.J. Abrams has promised us that he is going to end the series and tie up all the loose ends and answer all the questions. So with that in mind, I’m assuming/hoping the “ending” will be just that; the end. As much as I don’t want a lame ending, I don’t want a cliff hanger. That’s another reason it would work better as a movie. Another thing I don’t want is for them to leave the series finale open and then revisit it in a few years and make a couple of movies. That would be extremely frustrating.

He better not screw us with a cliffhanger ending!

This is an easy, slam-dunk win for the series creators. They’ll still get big-time ratings with the last televised show, so they shouldn’t lose ratings. Then they’ll make bank with a big time movie. The base audience is already there and if you’ve seen one episode of the show, you’re probably going to go see the film. With the critical acclaim and huge fan base, this could turn out to be a huge summer film. It might even be worthy of a midnight opening.

What’s not to like?

No show in history has ended it’s run with a movie. Most shows drag on past their prime and lose the audience needed for a film, other shows just don’t have a story big enough for the big screen. Lost is one of those few shows in history that people are just dying to know how it ends. Not only that, but we’ve been wondering that since the first episode. The story is great, the actors are great, the writing is fantastic and the fans are loyal. What more do you need for a hit movie?