The Best Crime Writer Just Signed A Massive Deal To Bring His Best Franchises To The Screen
Crime writer James Patterson has signed a first-look deal with Skydance Television.
James Patterson, one of the biggest names in crime thriller fiction, has just signed an exclusive first-look deal with Skydance Television. As a part of this deal, he will be adapting many of his extremely popular book series into television series, including Michael Bennett, Private, and Women’s Murder Club. “James Patterson is one of the most successful authors in publishing of all time,” said Matt Thunell, Skydance Television president, according to The Hollywood Reporter. For this reason, the studio is absolutely thrilled to have him on board.
“He is a master of his craft, who transcends genres and crosses borders with every story he writes,” he went on, “The Skydance team is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring his remarkable library to television screens all around the world.” And speaking of transcending borders, James Patterson will also be bringing some brand new stories to the screen, in the form of Jane Smith and Holmes, Miss Marple and Poe.
The latter of these two is a story conceived by James Patterson using heavy references to successful authors who came before him. Brendan Holmes claims to be related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame), Margaret Marple claims to be related to Agatha Christie, and August Poe says he is related to Edgar Allen Poe, but are they really? Whether they are or not, they find that they make a good team when they form a private investigation firm in New York City.
Jane Smith has also never been published in book form. This James Patterson tale is about a defense attorney and PI who finds out right before a major homicide trial that she only has 14 months left to live. How will this change how she approaches her cases? We will have to wait and find out.
Michael Bennett will be based on one of James Patterson’s best-selling series (and one of the most-read detective series of all time). It is about a detective who must split his time between solving cases and raising his full house of 10 adopted children.
Private is another James Patterson hit about a private investigation agency run by Jack Morgan, who used to be a CIA agent. This one is a bit more high-tech, with crimes being solved via offices from all over the world using highly advanced forensic technology.
Lastly, Women’s Murder Club will be based on the James Patterson series of the same name, in which a group of women from all different walks of life are brought together to work on criminal investigations and solve murders.
James Patterson’s first-look deal comes after the writer has already had some major television success with shows like Zoo and Instinct on CBS. Women’s Murder Club was also adapted into a drama for the ABC television network before, but it didn’t last long.
The prolific author is certain to be very happy with this new deal, as he and his company, James Patterson Entertainment, are always looking for new markets to expand into and new audiences to share his stories with.
