Brad Pitt’s Thelma & Louise directed by Ridley Scott almost inspired the hit spy thriller series Killing Eve. Thelma & Louise featured Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon as the titular characters and featured a beautiful ending where the two leads jump over a cliff to their implied deaths. According to the makers of Killing Eve, they also had a similar ending planned for their series as well.
Killing Eve features Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer in the leading role. The two stars play the role of a British Intelligence investigator Eve and an assassin Villanelle in a cat-and-mouse chase. The show ran for 4 seasons and 32 episodes and won several accolades for its story and performances by both the lead as well as supporting characters.
The influence of Brad Pitt’s Thelma & Louise on Killing Eve
According to a report by ELLE.com, it was not easy for the makers to devise a satisfying finale for the long-running series. There were a lot of things going on at the writer’s table and it was extremely difficult to give a stable conclusion to Villanelle and Eve’s story.
One of the aspects that made Killing Eve special was using a female head writer for every season. While the first season’s head writer was the Fleabag fame Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Season 2 was headed by Emerald Fennell, the third by Suzanne Heathcote, and the final outing by Laura Neal. While describing the difficulties in writing the last season, Neal explained:
“It was really difficult to find the best ending. The truth is we talked about loads. We were always discussing ‘What’s the truth of the endpoint of these characters’ journeys?’”
The idea of Brad Pitt‘s Thelma & Louise ending didn’t play out ultimately and we got a different ending for the British series. It ended on an unfortunate note as Villanelle was brutally shot and Eve was left screaming. But it also makes us wonder how it would have looked if we got an ending similar to the 1991 Brad Pitt movie.
Killing Eve is all set to get a spin-off series
Even though the last two seasons of Killing Eve didn’t receive as much acclaim as the first two seasons, the series is all set to receive a spin-off prequel. The Sun (via Deadline) reports that this prequel will center on the story of the enigmatic head of MI6’s Russia desk shown in the series, Carolyn Martens played by Fiona Shaw.
However, it is highly unlikely for either Eve or Villanelle to appear in the show as it will be a prequel. On the other hand, Fiona Shaw’s casting also seems doubtful due to the same reason. It will be interesting to watch who will the makers approach if it isn’t Shaw.
Killing Eve can be streamed on AMC+.
