Leonardo DiCaprio’s Most Anticipated Adaptation Is Canceled And Never Going To Happen?
Leonardo DiCaprio's upcoming series, The Devil in the White City, has been scrubbed from Hulu's upcoming release slate.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s pet project, The Devil in the White City, has officially been dropped from Hulu. The limited series has been in some phase of production for some time – DiCaprio bought the movie rights to the book it is based on way back in 2010 and was set to produce the series – but now, according to Deadline, it looks like it is curtains for the historical show.
It is a shame, too, as the plot of The Devil in the White City sounded like it would be right up true crime fans’ alley. The story is about Daniel H. Burnham, the architect behind the 1983 Chicago World’s Fair, as well as about Dr. H.H. Holmes, the first modern serial killer in America. The latter lured his victims into what became known as his “Murder Castle,” of which (you guessed it) they never made it out alive.
The Devil in the White City was originally planned as a film written by Billy Ray and directed by Martin Scorsese. It would have been produced as a joint production by DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions, Double Feature Films, and Paramount Pictures, but that wasn’t meant to be.
In 2019, The Devil in the White City was converted into a limited series, which would be produced by DiCaprio, Scorsese, and Stacey Sher. Its premiere date was slated for 2024 with production expected to start sometime in 2023. Unfortunately, though, it seems as if that wasn’t meant to be either.
Keanu Reeves initially signed on to play Daniel Burnham in January of last year, but by October 2022, he had left the project without giving an explanation as to why. Todd Field, who was expected to direct the first two episodes of The Devil in the White City, left the production a few days after Reeves.
No set date was given, but sources said that filming for The Devil in the White City was supposed to begin in March 2023. Instead, Hulu canceled the series, saying that it would no longer move forward with the project.
ABC Signature, which was working in association with Paramount Television Studios, hopes that the show will find a new home soon. It is still committed to the story and still sees the potential in it.
For now, though, those curious about America’s first modern serial killer will just have to wait and cross their fingers that the show’s luck turns around.
Aside from The Devil in the White City, Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company has also been trying to bring the animated series Captain Planet to the big screen as a live-action film – another project that has not been super successful so far. DiCaprio bought the screen rights to that production in 2016 and has been trying ever since to make it a reality. Recent updates say that the movie is still happening … but no one is quite able to say when.
So, while DiCaprio does seem to have an eye for a good story, he doesn’t always seem to have the luck necessary to turn those stories into good television and movies. Hopefully, though, The Devil in the White City will be able to overcome this obstacle and give viewers a glimpse into the outrageous but true history of the World’s Fair.
