CBS TV Studios is final negotiations to adapt former FBI director James Comey’s memoir, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” into a miniseries, an insider with knowledge of the negotiations told TheWrap.
The project will be penned by “Captain Phillips” writer Billy Ray and comes from Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout and Shane Selerno’s The Story Factory. Kurtzman recently signed a new five-year overall deal with CBS TV Studios, where he is spearheading CBS All Access’ “Star Trek: Discovery” and overseeing development of the new series based on Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
The potential miniseries could air on either CBS All Access, CBS broadcast network or Showtime.
The book, which was released in April by Flatiron Books, gets its title from president Donald Trump’s alleged desire for Comey to give him a loyalty pledge. Comey was first appointed FBI director by former president Barack Obama in 2013, and was fired by Trump less than a year into his presidency.
The book shares Comey’s never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical leadership looks like, and how it drives sound decisions. His journey provides an unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader.
From prosecuting the Mafia and Martha Stewart to helping change the Bush administration’s policies on torture and electronic surveillance, overseeing the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation as well as ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, Comey has been involved in some of the most consequential cases and policies of recent history.