Don’t Expect a “Blood Meridian” TV Show Anytime Soon

No Country for Old Men author Cormac McCarthy was against the idea of a television adaptation of another one of his books: Blood Meridian. Reportedly, McCarthy was adamant that if his potentially unfilmable 1985 western novel ever does make it to the screen, it needs to be the big screen.

In an interview with author Alexander Sorondo, director Joe Hillcoat, who previously adapted McCarthy’s novel The Road in 2009, revealed the late author’s feelings about a TV version of his most lauded novel, Blood Meridian.

Cropped image of one of the many cover art pieces for Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, featuring the title of the book floating amid the plains in the Western frontier.

According to Hillcoat, McCarthy believed that TV, especially in the streaming era, doesn’t have the “grandeur” of cinema. But is that still true in 2026?

Cormac McCarthy Was Certain “Blood Meridian” Had To Be A Movie

Collaborator Joe Hillcoat On McCarthy’s Bias Against TV

Cropped image of one of the many cover art pieces for Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, featuring an imposing skull amid a bright red background

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West is widely considered Cormac McCarthy’s greatest novel. It is a stunning achievement of late 20th century American literature. And, upon its publication in 1985, adapting the novel’s dense weave of gruesome violence and philosophy was virtually unthinkable. Forty years later, putting Blood Meridian’s extreme content on screen seems more feasible.

Not just on film, but on TV. The streaming era has been the death of the censor, and a TV version of Blood Meridian could absolutely capture the chaotic bloodshed of the book, while also probing its deep existential themes. Except that’s not what Cormac McCarthy wanted. Why? It had nothing to do with content. Instead, it was about feeling.

As director Joe Hillcoat, who is developing a Blood Meridian adaptation, explained to Alexander Sorondo, McCarthy rejected the idea of a miniseries adaptation of Blood Meridian, insisting it had to be a movie. Hillcoat said McCarthy thought streaming TV lacked “an element of spectacle” and “grandeur” that he associated with film. The question is: was McCarthy wrong?

Was Cormac McCarthy Wrong About The Right Medium For A “Blood Meridian” Adaptation

Can A Movie Do The Book Justice? Can A Miniseries?

Cormac McCarthy’s view of TV feels a bit outdated, but to be fair, he was nearly ninety when he passed away in 2023, and he’d lived through both the worst of TV and the best of cinema. Blood Meridian is epic in scope and ambition, and it makes sense McCarthy would equate that with film. Especially considering No Country for Old Men’s success.

No Country for Old Men is among the greatest 21st century movies so far. It narrowly beat another candidate, There Will Be Blood, for Best Picture at the 2008 Oscars. As an adaptation, the Coen Brothers’ No Country is remarkable. It captures the essence of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, while making vital changes in transposing the story and its themes from page to screen.

That set a high bar, one McCarthy likely wanted Blood Meridian to match, or surpass. Yet for anyone who was read Blood Meridian, it is fair to wonder if the author was wrong this one time. If perhaps embracing the modern era of TV is actually the only way for a Blood Meridian adaptation to rival the greatest of No Country for Old Men.