The First Purge is only a week a week away from arriving in theaters, and USA Network has just released the first trailer for the Purge TV series it developed with Blumhouse. Franchise creator James DeMonaco, who is writing for and executive producing the show, talked to Vulture last fall about where the ten-episode run falls in the Purge timeline. “The TV show takes place between the first Purge and the last movie,†DeMonaco said. “So if 20 Purges have taken place, or 15, we’re probably on the seventh or eighth in the TV show. It’s an established thing that people have gotten used to.â€
And as for how the new format will affect the narrative style, DeMonaco added that the series will allow for more time with each character. “The movies are more like events,†he said. “In the TV show, I think we’re slowing it down, and we’re using this flashback structure to enter into the non-Purge lives of these people. We’re going back six months or two years or into their childhood to see some things that might’ve fed into their decision-making on this particular Purge. The long form is actually allowing it to become more of a character study.†The series debuts on September 4 on USA.