Sometimes new movies and TV series just can’t get off the ground and find themselves in the swampy hinterlands of development hell. It’s sobering, though, to note that even Hollywood luminaries of the stature of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are not immune.
The director and star have worked together in five movies since they first linked up for drama movie Gangs of New York in 2002, with the 2023 thriller movie Killers of the Flower Moon set to be their sixth collaboration.
But while all of this has been going on, Scorsese and DiCaprio have spent more than a decade trying to make either a detective movie or a thriller series based on the 2003 non-fiction book The Devil in the White City.
The series is a potentially intriguing proposition, based on a book which weaves the events of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition with the parallel story of H. H. Holmes, who is widely considered to be America’s first serial killer.
There are lurid stories around Holmes, including the suggestion he would lure victims into a building known as the “Murder Castle”. With a hook as irresistible as that, you can see why Scorsese and DiCaprio are interested.
However, the project has hit yet another snag. It had been ordered to series by Hulu, but The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that it will now not be coming to that streaming service. It’s a project in search of a home.
Keanu Reeves had been in talks to star, with Tar director Todd Field behind the camera, but that duo are no longer involved. If the series does find a new home, Jeremy Allen White – set to wow again in The Bear season 2 – and Jude Law are in the frame, with Captain Fantastic director Matt Ross a potential new shepherd for the show.
The Devil in the White City might be struggling, but there are plenty of exciting TV series that are definitely coming your way. Find out more with our guides to the Succession season 4 release date, the Yellowjackets season 2 release date, and the Loki season 2 release date.