After winning the rights to the series in an auction early this April, Showtime is moving forward with the upcoming series adaptation of the acclaimed mystery novel The Talented Mr. Ripley with Sherlock veteran Andrew Scott set to portray the titular character.
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The eight-episode first season of the series, which is being titled Ripley, is being scripted and directed by Golden Globe-winner and Emmy nominee Steve Zaillian (Schindler’s List, The Night Of) and will follow the titular grifter as he is scraping by in New York in the early ’60s and is hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy to convince his vagabond son to return home.
“We are so thrilled to have the supremely talented filmmaker, Steve Zaillian, adapt the singular saga of Tom Riley from Patricia Highsmith’s novels as an ongoing series for Showtime,” Gary Levine, President of Entertainment Showtime Networks, said in the announcement. “With Andrew Scott, whose charisma knows no bounds, inhabiting the iconic lead role, we feel confident that this will be a special one.“
Zaillian will reportedly use Highsmith’s five novels about the sociopath anti-hero Tom Ripley, namely The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley’s Game, The Boy Who followed Ripley and Ripley Underwater, to script his progression from low-level con artist to full fledged serial killer.
Sharon Levy will oversee the series, which will be executive produced by Zaillian, Garrett Basch, Philipp Keel, Guymon Casady and Ben Forkner. Keel is the head of Highsmith’s longtime publisher, Diogenes, in Zurich.
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This will be the latest stab at adapting Highsmith’s novels, which have previously hit the screen as Purple Noon (1960), starring Alain Delon, The American Friend (1977), starring Dennis Hopper, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), starring Matt Damon, Ripley’s Game (2002), starring John Malkovich, and Ripley Under Ground (2005), starring Barry Pepper.
Zaillian previously wrote and directed the HBO mini-series The Night Of. He also wrote and directed the films All the King’s Men, A Civil Action and Searching for Bobby Fischer.
