Yep, they’re eyeing a remake of Hugh Jackman’s 153-minute crime thriller — just 13 years later

Here we go again: yet another film’s getting the TV series treatment. You might have noticed this trend has fully hit its stride lately—TV platforms are hungry for anything with a bit of built-in recognition. The latest to join the ranks? Prisoners, the dark Denis Villeneuve thriller that, if you missed it, starred Hugh Jackman losing his mind (and, of course, his children), while Jake Gyllenhaal did his patented intense-cop thing. It did rather well at the box office back in the day and left plenty of people slightly traumatised.

Alcon’s Big Play

This isn’t just a one-off TV project, either. It comes courtesy of Alcon Entertainment, the production house behind the original film. They’re starting up a brand new division called Alcon International Studios (AIS, if you want to sound in the know), set up specifically to turn their own film library into TV shows—particularly UK-based series. Essentially, they're using their old movies as a launchpad for what they hope will be "ambitious, distinctive stories" for the small screen—sounds like they've had the PowerPoint decks out and everything.

Here’s how Alcon co-founders Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson put it in their official statement: "We’re very excited about what AIS represents for Alcon’s next chapter. Building on Alcon’s legacy, we see a tremendous opportunity to create a dynamic global television platform and to partner with exceptional creators across the UK and Europe to bring ambitious, distinctive stories to audiences around the world."

Let’s be honest, it’s hardly shocking: streaming platforms love an existing IP, and Prisoners is ripe for a serialised format. It’s got brooding fathers, missing kids, and just enough unresolved trauma to keep us all glued for weeks. But it’s also the first big title revealed as part of Alcon’s shiny new strategy, so it’s very much their flagship announcement.

Prisoners is Alcon's marquee title as it launches its UK-focused TV adaptation studio.

They’ve seen what Apple did with Cape Fear (where the films’ core psycho-drama has been stretched into all sorts of twisty directions for telly, this time starring Javier Bardem and Amy Adams), so it’s no surprise Alcon fancies a shot at that sort of prestige-gloom themselves. No word yet on when Prisoners the series lands, who’s running the show, or whether any of the original cast will pop back up (does anyone really want to see Jackman in that much agony again?), but it’s definitely happening and will come out of the UK.