It’s a possibility, according to SFGate.com. One of Hackman’s older works, The Conversation has long been lauded as a classic, the story of a surveillance man who hears more than he bargained for and gets in over his head. And it could very easily make its way into a television format if the right people wanted it to.

Which they might. According to Daily Variety (which SFGate.com cited, and which we in turn are citing - it’s just a long list of citations) there are tentative plans to turn the movie into a television series for AMC. And much of it might - MIGHT - be filmed in San Francisco.

Keep in mind this is all tentative. And, more, Gene Hackman isn’t that likely to reprise his role, given that he’s retired. But, hey, who knows? Maybe he’s bored of writing books by now.

Here, then, is a definitive listing of his appearances in Hollwood movies since his first appearance in 1961.

1961 - Mad Dog Coll
1964 - Lilith
1966 - A Covenant With Death, HAwaii
1967 - Bonnie and Clyde, Banning
1968 - Riot
1969 - The Gypsy Moths, Marooned, Downhill Racer
1970 - I Never Sang For My Father
1971 - The Hunting Party, The French Connection, Doctors’ Wives
1972 - The Poseidon Adventure, Prime Cut, Cisco Pike
1973 - Scarecrow
1974 - The Conversation, Zandy’s Bride, Young Frankenstein
1975 - The French Connection II, Night Moves, Lucky Lady, Bite the Bullet
1977 - The Domino Principle, A Bridge Too Far, March or Die
1978 - Superman
1981 - Superman II, Reds, All Night Long
1983 - Under Fire, Uncommon Valor, Two of A Kind
1984 - Misunderstood, Eureka
1985 - Twice in A Lifetime, Target
1986 - Power, Hoosiers
1987 - Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, No Way Out
1988 - Split Decisions, Mississippi Burning, Full Moon in Blue Water, Bat 21, Another Woman
1989 - The Package
1990 - Postcards From the Edge, Narrow Margin, Loose Cannons
1991 - Company Business, Class Action
1992 - Unforgiven
1993 - The Firm, Geronimo: An American Legend
1994 - Wyatt Earp
1995 - The Quick and the Dead, Get Shorty, Crimson Tide
1996 - The Chamber, The Birdcage, Extreme Measures
1997 - Absolute Power
1998 - Twilight, Enemy of the State, Antz
2000 - The Replacements, Under Suspicion
2001 - The Royal Tenenbaums, Heist, Heartbreakers, Behind Enemy Lines
2003 - Runaway Jury
2004 - Welcome to Mooseport

Unfortunately (according to the likes and dislikes of today, anyway) the Luthor Hackman played in the first three movies of the Superman series was a bit camp. He was the Lex Luthor of old, the villain who acted more like a mad scientist at times than a ruthless businessman. He had occasionally zany schemes that blew up in his face, often because of the ineptness of his subordinates.

But Hackman endured past the scripts. He added an extra edge of ruthless humor to the lines he was given, becoming as vile a villain as he could, given the circumstances. And, fortunately, he did so good a job that he appeared in three out of five of the Superman movies, always with the same manic darkness that made him so popular in the first place. Second-fiddle villain or no, Hackman was still a damn good Lex Luthor.

In it Hackman plays the part of a surveillance expert with his own company. He’s hopelessly paranoid, however, and keeps everything about himself absolutely private. Even his own apartment, kept safe by thick locks, is almost completely empty for fear of intruders, save a saxophone (playing it along with jazz records is his one hobby). He finds himself constantly wracked with guilt over a past wire tap that resulted in three deaths.

So when he’s commissioned to do a job he does it, but with intense feelings of regret that the people he’s listening in on will get into trouble, or worse. He’s so reticent about handing over the tape, in fact, that the commissioning parties bug his apartment and, eventually, break in, steal the tape and leave what little they find destroyed.

That is, save for the saxophone, which the expert plays as the film closes.

The movie proved good enough to earn three Academy Nominations, not to mention preservation in the National Film Registry of the United States.