In a recent interview with CinemaBlend, James DeMonaco, the creator of The Purge franchise, confirmed that a TV series based on the franchise was in the works. “They came to me about a TV show, my idea is that you do six or seven storylines. And I would kind of intercut them, use flashbacks,” DeMonaco said. “They’re far ahead on the TV front… pretty far ahead.”
DeMonaco said the series would take the form of an “interwoven anthology,” and would allow him to explore the mindset of different Purgers — a concept explored in The Purge: Anarchy with Frank Grillo’s Sergeant Barnes. “It will be interesting to show those arcs, those dramatic and complex arcs that get people to where they pick up a gun or a knife and kill someone else,” he said. “Let’s show everything that’s led up to this moment of a husband trying to kill a wife — the cheating, or the accusations of cheating, or money problems.”
If this series gets the green-light, it would likely have to be set before the events of The Purge: Election Year, where (spoilers) the Annual Purge was set to be abolished by President-Elect Charlie Roan. Alternatively, the end of Election Year alluded to pro-Purge riots, which could be explored by the series if DeMonaco needs an excuse to reset his fictional universe before a hypothetical fourth film.
Although DeMonaco never outright says the show has been greenlit, he seemed optimistic about the show’s chances. “We’re talking about deals right now, money is being spoken about. So I think it’s being taken very seriously from the higher-ups who obviously dictate everything,” he said. “I think there’s something cool that we can do with the real estate of TV — 10 hours, potentially.”
DeMonaco is the sole credited writer and director of all three Purge films, a series that eventually found an audience in the “midnight movie” film enthusiast crowd. Whereas the first Purge film was a slasher with mild political undertones, the overt commentary in The Purge: Anarchy mixed with exploitation flick violence earned some critical praise — eventually taken to the next level in The Purge: Election Year, a film about social progress earned through violent upheaval and inter-demographic unity.