Devil In The White City Dropped By Hulu, Will Be Shopped Elsewhere
"Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir this show's blood." Hulu has decided to walk away from "Devil in the White City" — the series adaptation of Erik Larson's 2003 non-fiction historical novel — after developing it with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio for over two-and-a-half years. Deadline, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter all brought word of the new development at the same time. Their sources say that the show's producers, ABC Signature and Paramount Television Studios, are still committed to the project and will be shopping "Devil in the White City" around to other platforms, in the hopes of finding a new home. But as of now, the series is more or less dead.
According to THR, Jude Law ("Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore") and Jeremy Allen White ("The Bear") were last in talks to star in "Devil in the White City," with Matt Ross — best known for playing Gavin Belson in "Silicon Valley" and helming the 2016 Viggo Mortensen-led comedy-drama "Captain Fantastic" — circling the director's chair. ABC Signature still remains in talks with Law, White, and Ross, but it's going to be a challenge to get them to sign now that "Devil in the White City" doesn't have an outlet attached.
This is a major setback, though hiccups are nothing new for this project that's been through development hell. After all, "Devil in the White City" has been in the works — in one form or another, with or without Scorsese and DiCaprio — since 2003.
Spent a decade as a film script
"Mission: Impossible" star and stuntman extraordinaire Tom Cruise was first attached to "Devil in the White City," having bought the rights to the book a couple of months after it was published in 2003. At the same time — per Variety (via EW) — Leonardo DiCaprio was trying to develop a movie on H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who preyed on women during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, by relying on information in the public domain.
Holmes is one of two central characters in Erik Larson's book, "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America," which as the official logline goes, "tells the true story of Daniel H. Burnham, a demanding but visionary architect who races to make his mark on history with the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and Dr. H. H. Holmes, America's first modern serial killer and the man behind the notorious 'Murder Castle' built in the Fair's shadow."
But Cruise's book option lapsed in 2004 and Paramount Pictures acquired film rights in 2007. Then in 2010, DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions bought the rights and put himself up to play Holmes, before hiring Graham Moore ("The Imitation Game") to script the adaptation in 2011. "Devil in the White City" returned to Paramount in 2015, with DiCaprio bringing on Martin Scorsese to direct and Billy Ray ("Captain Phillips") set as the new writer. A movie script was still being worked on as of late 2016, per Scorsese, but it fell silent soon afterward.
Both DiCaprio ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," "Don't Look Up") and Scorsese ("The Irishman") moved on to other projects, including their upcoming collaboration for Apple TV+, "Killers of the Flower Moon."
Before being turned into a series
Meanwhile, in August 2021 at the Television Critics Association press tour, Hulu announced that "Devil in the White City" was going from being a movie to a TV series — with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio both involved. This was disappointing for some, as it essentially meant that DiCaprio wouldn't star in it anymore (he has never done TV) and Scorsese wouldn't direct (he's only ever done pilot episodes).
Thankfully, Hulu and the producers made the right moves in early 2022, attracting Keanu Reeves to play Daniel H. Burnham in what would be his first starring role in an American series. They spent several months wrangling the deal and finalizing his involvement by August 2022, but "The Matrix" star left a couple of months after. Then a few days later, director Todd Field ("Tár") exited the project as well. According to Variety, Reeves' involvement was dependent on Field's presence — once the director indicated he was moving on, so did the star.
Field left the series altogether, leaving behind fellow executive producers Scorsese, DiCaprio, Rick Yorn, Jennifer Davisson, Stacey Sher, Sam Shaw, Lila Byock, and Mark Lafferty. Shaw ("Manhattan," "Castle Rock") is the creator and showrunner.
Publicly, the eight-episode Hulu show had been in limbo since last October. Privately, as we know now, ABC Signature was in talks with Jude Law, Jeremy Allen White, and Matt Ross. Production was expected to begin later this year, with an eye to launch in 2024. But with Hulu's exit from "Devil in the White City," that now seems unlikely if not impossible.