Habit turns to 'Vice'

Pic's B.O. may reflect public opinion of TV adaptations

By GABRIEL SNYDER

Universal's "Miami Vice" may not be the least profitable movie of the summer (thanks to its $150-plus million pricetag, Warner Bros.' "Poseidon" appears to have won that dubious honor).

But given the $135 million "Vice" tab and its $57 million domestic gross (most international territories are yet to open), the Michael Mann TV-to-film adaptation will help put another nail in the coffin of the theory that the public is clamoring for bigscreen versions of small screen hits.

The "Star Trek" franchise got the ball rolling, and the tube-to-theatrical cavalcade stayed alive with hits such as "The Fugitive," "Mission: Impossible," the first "Charlie's Angels," the first "Scooby-Doo," "The Addams Family."

But then there's the long list of clunkers: "Bewitched," "Sgt. Bilko," "The Mod Squad," "The Brady Bunch," "McHale's Navy," "Rocky & Bullwinkle."

"Vice" falls into the tweener category -- films that are not quite disasters but which hardly did enough biz to warrant a sequel: "Maverick," "Dukes of Hazzard," "Serenity," "Starsky & Hutch," "Wild, Wild West," "The Twilight Zone," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "The Honeymooners," etc.

Studios like adapting TV shows because auds are already aware of the titles. But that means there's always a fine line to walk between mocking and paying homage.

With "Vice," Mann had been developing a film version for years at U before the studio was purchased in 2003 by NBC, the show's original network.

U gave the greenlight not too long after the merger, and "Vice" became a rare instance when the creative force behind a TV show was also guiding the film adaptation.

But little else in film "Vice" was similar to the 1980s classic skein. Times and sensibilities change.

Which may also explain why other iconic TV shows have never even been mentioned for a bigscreen treatment -- "I Love Lucy," "All in the Family," "Gunsmoke," "Little House on the Prairie," "Mary Tyler Moore," "Cheers," etc. -- even as other movie versions are being prepped, such as "24" and the long-gestating "Dallas."