'This Is Us' show was nearly a movie

"This Is Us" creator Dan Fogelman revealed that the popular NBC drama was originally going to be a movie.
The drama starring Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia revolves around the lives of Pearsons-- Rebecca, Jack and their three offspring - Kevin, Kate and Randall.
The Rebecca and Jack stories generally take place during the early stage of their marriage, surrounding the birth of their children, or at different phases of the children's upbringing, which was not always smooth sailing for any of the five.
In Emmy Magazine's June cover story on "This Is Us", Fogelman, who is also one of the writers on the show, said he originally wrote around 80 pages about the Pearson family in 2015 with the intention that of telling their story on the big screen, reported People.

"There was going to be a reveal at the end (of the movie) that they were octuplets born in the late '70s or early '80s.
"The reason I was struggling with (the film) wasn't the plot; it was about these characters and how I didn't want to 'beginning-middle-and-end' them. I wanted to do this continuous story - which felt very much like the theme of the show," he said.