Murder as a Fine Art, the Victorian mystery thriller by bestselling author David Morrell, best known as the creator of the legendary character John Rambo and writer of First Blood, is being adapted into a television series by A Higher Standard and Harris Films. Zack Stentz, X-Men: First Class and Thor screenwriter, will be the writer and showrunner for the Murder as a Fine Art series.
Set in 1850s London, Murder as a Fine Art blends fact and fiction as it follows Thomas De Quincey, the real-life and notorious opium-eater and essayist, who becomes entangled in a series of gruesome murders seemingly inspired by his infamous essay, On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts. To clear his name, De Quincey joins forces with his brilliant daughter Emily and two Scotland Yard detectives to track down the killer.
“As a lifelong lover of history and mystery-thrillers, I fell in love with David’s novel from the first page. His evocation of the sights, sounds, and even smells of Victorian London was as gripping as his psychological portrait of the brilliant and bizarre Thomas de Quincey and his tender relationship with his headstrong and independent daughter Emily. I’m beyond excited to bring this world and these characters to life in the medium of series television where they belong,” Stentz commented on the project.
Regarded as a pioneer of the modern action-thriller genre, David Morrell has written more than 30 novels that have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into over 30 languages. Murder as a Fine Art is the first installment in his Victorian mystery trilogy featuring Thomas De Quincey.
“I couldn’t ask for a more exciting team to work with than Jeffrey Greenstein, David Harris, and the rest of the innovative talents at A Higher Standard,” Morrell said. “Their enthusiasm is matched by their inventiveness.”
A Higher Standard’s founder, Jeffrey Greenstein, and David Harris of Harris Films will executive produce the Murder as a Fine Art TV series.
“David Morrell delivers yet again, this time with a riveting murder mystery so unique in setting and narrative that murder becomes ‘a Fine Art’,” said Greenstein. “The novel depicts the first-ever publicized mass murders in English history, long before Jack the Ripper. These murders literally paralyzed London and all of England.”
“Given today’s fascination with true crime, this is a particularly exhilarating time to introduce audiences to such a compelling, complex character as Thomas De Quincey, a Victorian expert in mass murderers,” Harris added. “We’re excited to showcase a gothic London in rich, accurate, and often terrifying detail, dramatizing the advent of modern criminology.”
Source: Variety
