Anyway, I had heard about this before, but never in this much detail - still I was mildly interested. And, to be honest, the idea of remaking a movie into a TV show isn't a new concept, and doesn't automatically mean the project is doomed to failure (in fact there's several movies I wish someone would remake into TV shows), so I'm not ashamed in thinking that this might be something I'd enjoy watching.
I mean, I liked the movie and didn't entirely hate either of the sequels, though admittedly they just didn't hit me the same way as the original did. Though in a sorta weird twist I did feel that perhaps the second one might've been better had it been a bit more fleshed out (that'll be explained later), but the third one just needed more than a little tinkering, because... I don't know the whole thing just felt slightly off.
What's weirding me out...
Based on the thrill-ride film, "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series" is a supernatural crime saga centered around bank robber, Seth Gecko (Cotrona) and his violent, unpredictable brother, Richard "Richie" Gecko (Holtz), who are wanted by the FBI and Texas Rangers Earl McGraw (Johnson) and Freddie Gonzalez (Garcia) after a bank heist leaves several people dead. While on the run to Mexico, Seth and Richie encounter former pastor Jacob Fuller (Patrick) and his family, whom they take hostage. Using the family RV to cross the border, chaos ensues when the group detours to a strip club that is populated by vampires. They are forced to fight until dawn in order to get out alive. The series deepens the tone and expands the storyline of the film, adds new characters and backstories, and explores the Mesoamerican mythology behind the creatures inside the club.
That's the exact plot of the movie, and while the movie had some problems - like the fact that it really is a crime drama to start with and then in the middle changes into something else entirely. Both was good, but the transition even now years later still feels weird. However, despite that I gotta say it was pretty damn good exactly as it was.
And that sorta makes it worse, because I'm sorry, but the actors chosen for the movie overall was pretty damn perfect, and this is just gonna invite actor!bashing of the new actors, especially if they can't live up, and in at least two cases I am very much doubtful of actors living up. Because two actors from the movie was perfect (or at least perfectly cast - I'm not sorry about feeling like no one will ever be able to play Kate Fuller as perfectly as Juliette Lewis did - perfect actress was perfectly chosen here), and not because two actors with the new project are shitty. But hell Quentin Tarantino himself was so much better than expected (in my opinion) as insane brother - so much so that I'm honestly having trouble imagining someone else playing even that part as well as he did.
But also the fact that movie never left me feeling like it would've been better had it only been longer and therefore story elements/characters expanded upon (unlike say the second one I mentioned above, though with that one it might be a consequence of feeling like that one just had too many characters - though I can understand why they'd go with the plot/characters of the first movie, because that one was simply better all around, though they're no doubt going with that one because it was more popular). Honestly, it might not happen, but that makes me think the series is just gonna be tossing shit in to fill time rather than making a show that will be as tight and compelling as the movie was.
EDIT NOTE: I suppose I should note that there was a few things in the first movie that could've been expanded on, but nothing that would've really added anything to the plot/story (see the third movie where this was actually attempted - though I don't think that was the actual intention of the movie just something at some point the people behind the movie realized they was unintentionally doing and just went with it). However, it is something I suppose a TV show could expand on without feeling like so much filler, but it's stuff about the vampires - and in the movies the vampires are killers that lure people to this bar for the express purpose of getting them drunk and them feeding on them.
So, as far as the story was concerned one knew all they needed to about the vampires, so unless the show is gonna try to make the vamps a bit more "relatable" it really wouldn't be necessary for the TV show to expand that part of the story either - unless as I said they want to make the vampires softer, and that seems like something that would go against the spirit of the movies.
But as far as the criminal brothers and the hostage family the movie gave us all we really needed to know about them. Seriously there was enough detail that you could figure things out even if it wasn't outright stated. I suppose the step-brother (from the hostages) could've been fleshed out a bit more, but even then the story didn't ignore him and I felt we knew enough about him that he made sense as a character and didn't feel shallow - the big problem with him in my opinion was that Kate (totally because of Juliette Lewis) simply over-shadowed his character, and it wasn't like she did it on purpose.