The novel “The Devil In The White City” has been waiting for an adaptation for many years. First Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese wanted to make a film out of the book, then it was to become a series. But even with that, things are not looking good now…
NEWS: Things are looking bad for the film THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY. After it was announced last week that KEANU REEVES has left the project, now also the director TODD FIELD has dropped out. pic.twitter.com/cLZhQMkSfQ
– Chevy McShane (@ChevyMcshane) October 11, 2022
On Netflix, “Dahmer – Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer” is currently breaking one record after another and the true-crime series is by no means the first project about a killer to draw a large audience in front of the screens. Therefore, the best-selling novel “The Devil In The White City”, in which author Erik Larson tells the story of the serial killer H.H. Holmes, would certainly also have huge potential to become a hit as a feature film or series. But somehow it is not meant to be…
At the beginning of 2022, the US streaming provider Hulu announced that “The Devil In The White City” will be adapted as a series – with Keanu Reeves (“Matrix”) in one of the leading roles. Todd Field (“Tár”) was to direct the first two episodes. As the US industry magazine Variety reports, Reeves and Field are now no longer involved and the project is on hold. The reasons for this are not known. This closes another chapter in a bumpy production history…
NOVEL, FEATURE FILM, SERIES: “THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY” HAS A LOT BEHIND IT
The adaptation of Larson’s bestseller, which was published in Germany in 2004 under the title “The Devil of Chicago: An Architect, a Murderer and the World’s Fair that Changed America”, namely has quite a long history.
After Tom Cruise expressed his interest in the material, actor Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Wolf Of Wall Street”) secured the rights to the novel in 2010 to play the role of the murderer H.H. Holmes himself. Martin Scorsese (“Gangs Of New York”) was to direct the film. Nine years later, however, there was talk of a series – DiCaprio and Scorsese were only mentioned as producers.
The big question now is what will happen with “The Devil In The White City” after the departure of Reeves and Field. At least DiCaprio and Scorsese are officially still on board – and perhaps already looking for a new cast?
THIS IS WHAT “THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY” IS ABOUT
Erik Larson’s novel “The Devil In The White City” is based on a true story that took place in the USA at the end of the 19th century. During the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, architect Daniel H. Burnham converts an old hotel into a house of horrors, luring visitors with torture chambers, secret rooms and trap doors. What the visitors to the attraction do not know: Henry H. Holmes, a handsome and well-known doctor, wreaks havoc in the building and kills numerous women. He is considered one of the first serial killers in the USA.
