Keanu Reeves is all set to star in what will be his largest TV role to date. He will be headlining Hulu’s TV adaptation of Erik Larson’s best seller Devil in the White City. The drama, which has been developed as a film and TV series since Leonardo DiCaprio optioned the property in 2010, has finally been greenlit by the Disney-backed streamer. The news was announced at Hulu’s virtual time before press at the Television Critics Association’s summer tour. The series will also have Martin Scorsese as executive producer along with DiCaprio.
Devil in the White City’s screenplay is being written by Sam Shaw, who is also serving as showrunner and exec producer. DiCaprio’s Appian Way partner, Jennifer Davisson will also exec produce. Scorsese was touted to direct when DiCaprio was said to star but will serve on the production board now instead. Reeves will star and also exec produce the series with Todd Field set to direct.
The series is a co-production between Paramount Television Studios and Disney’s ABC Signature. Paramount Pictures won the rights to the novel after a massive bidding war in 2015. The novel revolves around Daniel H. Burnham (Reeves), a demanding but visionary architect who wants to make history with the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and Dr HH Holmes, America’s first modern serial killer behind the notorious “Murder Castle” built in the fair’s shadow.
It is not yet confirmed how many episodes the series will have. DiCaprio and Scorsese have teamed up six times before for features features Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street. They teamed up for Killers of the Flower Moon and will be reuniting for the seventh time for shipwreck survival drama The Wager which is based on David Grann's mystery thriller The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder.
(Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
