The Weinstein Company has secured rights to Truman Capote’s American masterpiece “In Cold Blood,” and plans to bring the crime story to television as a miniseries event.
Gary Oldman and Douglas Urbanski’s Flying Studios (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) will produce, with “Becoming Jane” screenwriter Kevin Hood on board to adapt Capote’s book.
“In Cold Blood” was published in 1966, a blockbuster true-crime account that first ran as a four-part serial in The New Yorker. It centers on the murders of Kansas farming family the Clutters that subsequently rocked their community and ultimately the nation.
“Truman Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’ has been riveting audiences since it first hit the literary scene almost 50 years ago, and it continues to have that same thrilling, timeless appeal today,” TWC President and Chief Operating Officer David Glasser said. “We are extremely excited to be partnering with Gary, Doug and the whole Flying Studios team to bring what’s sure to be an unbelievable series to TV viewers.”
The book was turned into 1967 film by the same name, starring Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, respectively, and John Forsythe as investigator Alvin Dewey.
A 1996 TV movie starred Anthony Edwards as Hickock, Eric Roberts as Smith and Sam Neill as Dewey.
Capote’s writing of the book has been fictionalized in films, including 2005’s “Capote,” for which Philip Seymour Hoffman won numerous awards, including a best actor Oscar and Golden Globe as the author. Catherine Keener appeared as fellow author Harper Lee, whose iconic book “To Kill a Mockingbird” would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
British actor Toby Jones also portrayed Capote in 2006 film “Infamous” with Sandra Bullock appearing as Lee and Daniel Craig as killer Smith, whose rumored relationship with the author was alluded to in the film, and Lee Pace as Hickock.
TWC Television produces reality series “Project Runway” and its spin-off “Project Runway All Stars” and “Under the Gunn.” Other TWC television productions include “Mob Wives,” “Million Dollar Shoppers” “Rodeo Girls” and “Trailer Park: Welcome to Myrtle Manor.”
Scripted projects currently in production include John Fusco’s “Marco Polo,” “Ten Commandments” and Daniel Stashower’s “The Hour of Peril.” TWC also developed “Nanny Diaries” and produced “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.” TWC’s television production division garnered nine Emmy nominations in 2013 and five in 2014.
Flying Studios is represented by APA, as is Hood, who also counts The UK’s Independent Talent Group and Nelson Davis, LLP. The Capote estate is repped by Greenburg Traurig.
Deborah Day contributed to this report