EXCLUSIVE: Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous creator and X-Men: First Class and Thor screenwriter Zack Stentz will adapt Murder As A Fine Art, the first novel in David Morrell’s (First Blood) Victorian mystery trilogy, as a TV series.
Set in 1854 London, the historical thriller dramatizes a sequence of grisly murders that paralyze London. The killings imitate killings described in an infamous essay, On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts, written by one of the most notorious personalities of the era, Thomas De Quincey. When De Quincey becomes the logical suspect, he teams up with his brilliant daughter and a pair of suspicious Scotland Yard detectives to prove his innocence and stop a killer who has turned De Quincey’s words into a deadly instruction manual.
The project hails from A Higher Standard (Playdate) and Harris Films (Woman With A Past). Morell is best known as the writer of First Blood and thus the creator of the John Rambo character.
Stentz will serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer through his Electric Brain Entertainment. David Harris of Harris Films will executive-produce alongside Greenstein, with Thayer Juergens producing and Rebecca Raichek overseeing development on behalf of A Higher Standard. The expectation is for the drama to shoot in the UK once it’s ready.
Murder As A Fine Art was first published in 2013.
“Storytelling today transcends language and eras, as audiences crave new versions of beloved genres. Zack is the exact right creator to help deliver a fresh, exciting crime series with the action and intrigue that Morrell’s books are noted for,” said A Higher Standard’s Jeffrey Greenstein.
“Having captivated audiences with his exciting narratives told over various genres, Zack is ideally suited to craft Morrell’s masterful, complex tale for this new format. Weaving historical crime, horror, mystery, and breathless tension, Murder as a Fine Art will entrance viewers as its fascinating Victorian details make them feel they’re literally in 1854 London,” Harris commente.
“As a lifelong lover of history and mystery-thrillers, I fell in love with David’s novel from the first page. His evocation of the sights, sounds, and even smells of Victorian London was as gripping as his psychological portrait of the brilliant and bizarre Thomas de Quincey and his tender relationship with his headstrong and independent daughter Emily. I’m beyond excited to bring this world and these characters to life in the medium of series television where they belong,” Stentz added.
Jeffrey Greenstein’s A Higher Standard is soon to release action-comedy Playdate, directed by Luke Greenfield, starring Alan Ritchson, Kevin James, Sarah Chalke, Isla Fisher, Stephen Root, and Paul Walter Hauser. Also on the slate is the romantic comedy Solo Mio, starring Kevin James. Recent productions include the action thriller Bear Country, directed by Derrick Borte, starring Russell Crowe, Aaron Paul, Luke Evans, and Nina Dobrev, as well as the just-wrapped action film Runner, directed by Scott Waugh, starring Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson.
Stentz is represented by Circle Management and Production and Hansen Jacobson. David Morrell is repped by Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Literary Management.
