‘The Purge’ TV Series Gets Full Trailer

After four films, The Purge franchise has become a dominating force in the world of pop culture, with the series expanding into the realm of television this fall. Check out the official trailer for The Purge TV series above before it debuts on USA on September 4th.

Based on the hit movie franchise from Blumhouse productions, The Purge revolves around a 12-hour period when all crime, including murder, is legal. Set in a dystopian America ruled by a totalitarian political party, the series follows several seemingly unrelated characters living in a small city. Tying them all together is a mysterious savior who’s impeccably equipped for everything the night throws at them. As the clock winds down with their fates hanging in the balance, each character is forced to reckon with their pasts as they discover how far they will go to survive the night.

While each film in the franchise has focused primarily on the period where crime is legal, the extended running time of the TV series will allow the narrative to explore how this dystopia functions the other 364 days a year.

“I’d say it’s 70, 65 percent Purge Night and then 30 percent flashback,” series creator James DeMonaco revealed to Entertainment Weekly. “We follow four what-seem-to-be separate storylines of people going out on the evening and experiencing the Purge. The real estate of the 10 hours of the TV allows us to use flashback, where we flashback out of the Purge world, into the regular lives, the non-Purge days, of this future America. We get to see who these people are when it’s not Purge Night and the events that led them to where they are on the particular Purge night that we are following. I think it’s a great device.”

This isn’t to say the new series won’t depict the chaos of the annual event, but that fleshing out the pertinent characters will potentially make a bigger impact on viewers.

“The real estate of TV lets us truly analyze why anyone would resort to violence on Purge Night. So, it’s a slower burn,” the filmmaker pointed out. “Whereas the movies are kind of a punch in the face — you know, these big events — I think the TV show, with the real estate of it, allows us to truly analyze why anyone would pick up a gun or a knife to solve a problem. We really get to examine the night, and the intricacies of the evening, and the nuances of the evening, and the different kinds of people who are out on the streets in a way that I just couldn’t do in the movies.”

Catch the series premiere of The Purge on September 4th.

Do you think the TV series will be as successful as the film franchise? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T YouTube, The Purge TV]