Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s adaptation of “The Devil in the White City,” based on Erik Larsen’s 2003 book about the infamous 19th-century serial killer, is no longer moving forward at Hulu, multiple sources reported Monday.
It’s the latest no-go for the project in a nearly 20-year effort to bring it to the screen. In the most recent version, Keanu Reeves and visionary architect Daniel H. Burnham, but once “Tar” director Todd Field dropped out in October, so did Reeves.
No casting was announced for the title role of Dr. HH Holmes, considered America’s first modern serial killer. He murdered guests attending the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair in his diabolical “Murder Castle”. The horrifying true story inspired a 2006 episode of “Supernatural”.
DiCaprio acquired the rights through his Appian Way Productions in 2010 and Scorsese signed on to direct as a film in 2015. The two remain as executive producers when it is reintroduced as a TV series in August 2022, and are said to be looking to shop it around. This for a new home.
Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner first optioned it to Paramount, but their option expired in 2004. Paramount re-acquired the film rights in 2007, this time with producers Michael Schamberg and Stacey Sher onboard.
The latest iteration had Scorsese, DiCaprio, Sher, Rick Yorn, Sam Shaw, Mark Lafferty and Jennifer Davison of Appian Way as EPs with Shaw serving as showrunner for ABC Signature and Paramount Television Studios.
