THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
plans for a screen adaptation
of Erik Larson’s book
Latest News
January 22, 2025: 20th Century Studios picks up The Devil in the White City as a feature film.
March 6, 2023: Hulu dropped plans to produce The Devil in the White City TV miniseries.
August 29, 2022: “According to a recent listing in Production Weekly, the series is reportedly scheduled to begin filming in March 2023 and will be filmed entirely in Chicago. Exact filming dates and locations have yet to be disclosed at this time.” [ReelChicago.com]
Development of Devil in the White City
A film adaptation of The Devil in the White City was first developed by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner through their Cruise/Wagner company, but the option lapsed in 2004. Paramount acquired the film rights in 2007 and set it up with producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher. Leonardo DiCaprio bought the film rights to The Devil in the White City in 2010 and began developing it as a feature film for Paramount studios to be directed by Martin Scorsese with DiCaprio was set to star in the leading role of the killer Holmes.
In 2019, the project changed to a big-budget miniseries for the streaming service Hulu. The series is being produced by Paramount TV Studios, ABC Signature, and Appian Way. Hulu canceled their plans in March 2023, but ABC Signature remains committed to the drama and will be shopping the show to new outlets.
Credits
Cast
Keanu Reeves as Daniel Burnham(confirmed 8/4/2022) (exited 10/7/2022)- Matt Damon?
- Robert Pattison?
Producers
- Sam Shaw (show runner)
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Martin Scorsese
- Keanu Reeves
- Jennifer Davisson
- Rick Yorn
- Stacey Sher
- Lila Byock
Todd Field(exited 10/10/2022)- Mark Lafferty
- ? Emma Koskoff
Writers
Directors
Todd Field reportedly will direct the first two episodes. (out 10/10/2022)
More Information
Internet Movie Database (IMDB) page for the miniseries The Devil in the White City
Posts about Erik Larson’s 2003 book, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
May 13, 2021: “Film Firsts and the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair: Part I” (online)
Chicago Movie Tours will offer two free "mini matinee" online lectures on Facebook. The first, on Thursday, May 13 at 9:30 AM is "Film Firsts and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: Part I." The presentation will uncover what human eyesight, galloping horses, and a missed Chicago deadline have in common. The second presentation, on Thursday, May 20 at 9:30 AM, is "Film Firsts and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: [...]
“The Spatula and the White City” podcast
“One of my favorite things in the world is the spatula,” confesses Diane T. Sands, host of the podcast This Fact is Overdue. In the episode “The Spatula and the White City” (March 1, 2021), she shares interesting connections between this simple and useful kitchen utensil and the 1893 World’s Fair. Along the way, listeners will learn about Anna M. Mangin, a young Black woman who invented the pastry [...]
117. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Wisconsin Building
THE WISCONSIN BUILDING.—It was intended that the Wisconsin Building should be indicative of the resources of the state, and such it was in fact. All the visible material came from Wisconsin, the brown stone, the pressed brick, the shingles and even the plate glass being home products. A handsome building was the result, too. The rich brown stone has long been famous for such use, and the design of [...]
THE GREAT CHICAGO QUIZ SHOW serves up some 1893 World’s Fair trivia
The Great Chicago Quiz Show on WTTW in Chicago has host Geoffrey Baer asking contestants (including some famous Chicagoans) trivia questions about their city. No program about Chicago history would be complete without at least a few tidbits from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, and Geoffrey asked contestants several , including: • The world’s first Ferris Wheel was a hit at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park. [...]
Footprint of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park
Following a lengthy federal regulatory review, the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) is now preparing for its official groundbreaking in the fall of 2020, and the City of Chicago is beginning pre-construction work in Jackson Park. Updates on the OPC construction can be found at https://www.obama.org/updates/. The OPC campus has several components, all localized in the southwest corner of what was the fairgrounds for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. That [...]
Apr. 28-July 9, 2021: “ReIMAGINE Aunt Jemima” exhibit (Chicago)
A new exhibit in Chicago explores an advertising campaign launched at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and only recently ended. ReIMAGINE Aunt Jemima is on display in the lobby of the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library (9525 S Halsted Street in Chicago) from April 28 to July 9, 2021. ReIMAGINE Aunt Jemima on display at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library in Chicago. The exhibit centers on [...]
The Wizard in the White City
L. Frank Baum, so the legend goes, used his experience visiting the White City of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago as inspiration for the Emerald City in his best-selling children's book of 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. A new documentary film exploring the life and times of Baum has been released as part of the American Experience series on PBS. "American Oz, the True Wizard Behind the [...]
“Frederick Law Olmsted” podcast from Cream City Windy City
Wendy Bright’s podcast Cream City~Windy City explores interesting connections between Milwaukee and Chicago. Episode #10, “Frederick Law Olmsted,” (released April 21, 2021) focuses on the “Father of Landscape Architecture.” In 1869, Chicago hired the firm of Olmsted, Vaux & Co. to design a park system on the South Side. Twenty-two years later, Frederick Law Olmsted and his associate Henry Codman redesigned Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance to serve [...]
Apr. 26, 2021-2022: Olmsted 200: Celebrating Olmsted and Parks for All People
2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, social reformer and founder of American landscape architecture. The National Association for Olmsted Parks and partners have launched a year-long celebration to explore Olmsted’s living legacy. Olmsted 200 offers an array of activities and events across the country designed to introduce you to Frederick Law Olmsted and the importance of his work and ideas. One of the [...]
Apr. 27, 2021: The Amazing World’s Fairs of Chicago (online)
The Elmhurst Public Library in Elmhurst, Illinois, is offering an online presentation "The Amazing World’s Fairs of Chicago" on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, at 7 PM. Explore the two World’s Fairs that put Chicago on the map. The Columbian Exposition of 1893 was built against incredible odds and with a diabolical killer just outside the gates. The 1933 Century of Progress could not go ahead without first getting rid [...]