December 19, 2011 
The hit Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom is to be turned into a TV show by producer John Wells (The West Wing, E.R.), Deadline reports.
David Michôd‘s 2010 film concerned an Australian family of bank-robbers in Melbourne, presided over by one creepy matriarch (Jacki Weaver, in an Oscar-nominated performance).
Though it isn’t stated explicitly in Deadline’s report, it’s assumed the TV adaptation will be set in the United States.
Michôd and Liz Watts will produce alongside Wells and the show’s writer/director Jonathan Lisco (Southland) for Showtime.
It could possibly work – imagine the irony if Melissa Leo was cast as ‘Smurf’!!
No. The script and flow was far too subtle and slow for US audiences. They seem to prefer in your face, fast paced shows (a broad generalisation). And they already have a ton of those. The two main characters are incredibly strong – can see why a series maybe focusing on these two rephrensible characters may appeal to a network?