The made-in-Melbourne crime film Animal Kingdom is to be reborn as a TV show for high-end US cable channel Showtime, home of edgy dramas such as Dexter, Nurse Jackie, Weeds and The United States of Tara.

Showtime has commissioned a pilot based on the film, with an option to develop it as a series. "We would hope it goes into a really long-running series, of course," the movie’s Australian producer, Liz Watts, said yesterday. "Certainly, the investors are very happy with the deal."

The cast of Animal Kingdom: James Frecheville, Luke Ford, Jacki Weaver, Sullivan Stapleton and Ben Mendelsohn. Credit:Simon Schluter

The pilot will be made for Showtime by John Wells Productions, the company responsible for West Wing and the US adaptation of the British series Shameless.

Watts said there had been approaches from producers in the US and the UK about making localised versions of the 2010 film, but neither she nor director David Michod was interested in that idea. However, the series proposal was something else. "They will relocate it, and it will be totally remade. It is exciting to see it gain its own life and form," she said.