Keanu Reeves has signed on to star in the series adaptation of Erick Larson‘s best-selling novel Devil in the White City.
The project is in the works at Hulu, with Sam Shaw (Castle Rock) showrunning and writing the series, while Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are on board as executive producers. Todd Field (In The Bedroom, Little Children) will direct.
Larson’s historical novel tells the story of a demanding visionary architect named Daniel H. Burnham, who sets out to make history at the Chicago World’s Fair. At the same time, Dr. H. H. Holmes, America’s first modern serial killer and the man behind the notorious ‘Murder Castle,’ lurks in the shadows of the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 Chicago.
It’s unclear right now whether Reeves will play Burnham or Holmes, but either way his star power is a big get for the series.
This adaptation has been attempted for a while, but to no avail until now. DiCaprio purchased the rights to Larson’s book over a decade ago and planned to turn it into a film at Paramount. Scorsese would have directed from a script by Billy Ray. But between 2015 and 2019, the project began to evolve into a limited series, and here we are.
Shaw’s work on Castle Rock, which was also made for Hulu and inspired by characters from the work of Stephen King, likely helped get him this gig, as Devil in the White City sounds like it will share a similar tone.
While in some ways its disappointing that we’ll now likely never see the DiCaprio/Scorsese film version of Devil in the White City, it’s hard to be too upset at the prospect of a dark limited series starring Reeves. We’ll now wait and see which of the two leads Keanu is playing, and who will be cast opposite him.
#Peace.Love.DevilInTheWhiteCity
