Behind Enemy Lines is notable not only for being one of the first military movies to be released after 9/11, but also for an acoustically perfect jet-downing sequence, a track-suited Serbian killer who eventually got regurgitated as Grand Theft Auto’s Niko Bellic, and cementing Owen Wilson’s inability to carry action films. It’s also not very good. Of course, that didn’t stop three DTV sequels from being developed, and now Behind Enemy Lines will be a TV show, according to Deadline.
Knowing the value of a title that doubles as a log line, Fox has a put pilot commitment for a Behind Enemy Lines series. Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Homeland) is set to write and direct the pilot. Showing appropriate disgust for low-octane television, Fox is promising a “high-octane thriller” about an American flight crew downed while operating covertly over a Latin American jungle. This will allow for rich tapestry of character interactions to play out, including the action badass, the survivalist badass, the charismatic badass, the unpredictable badass, the explosives badass, the linguistic badass, the wisecracking badass, the rules-and-regulations badass, the streetwise badass, and the milquetoast navigator who doesn’t even know what country they were downed over.
And because the plot sounds like it’s going to need high-octane convolution to last more than three episodes, the crew’s commanding officer will be stuck on an aircraft carrier, trying to get them rescued (presumably laboring against all of the bureaucratic red tape aircraft carriers are notorious for). Meanwhile, a D.C.-based female CIA officer will distract us from a total absence of women operating Behind Enemy Lines, as she connects the dots and uncovers a vast conspiracy hinged upon shooting down a military aircraft full of badasses.