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
Tom Ripley in the White City?
Sneaky devils. Just days after reporting that Robert Pattison was in talks for the role of (alleged) serial killer H. H. Holmes, Giant Freakin Robot has revealed that Matt Damon is a top choice for the lead role in the Hulu adaptation of Erik Larson’s 2003 bestseller about the 1893 World’s Fair, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. Damon, star [...]
Vampire in the White City?
After nearly two years of silence since the February 2019 announcement that Erik Larson’s 2003 bestseller about the 1893 World’s Fair, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, was being developed as a Hulu miniseries, a report on one potential casting has surfaced. Giant Freakin Robot reports that Robert Pattinson currently is in talks for the role of (alleged) serial [...]
Claude Monet’s paintings at the 1893 World’s Fair
Irises, water lilies, and poppies can be spotted around Chicago this winter, colorful images promoting the exhibition Monet and Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago through June 14, 2021. The show explores Chicago’s early connection to Claude Monet, whose canvases began arriving in this city around the time of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition because of a few visionary collectors. Monet paintings adorned the walls of Bertha and [...]
111. Picturesque World’s Fair – A group of Arabs, Turks and Bedouins
A GROUP OF ARABS, TURKS AND BEDOUINS.—If there be a region in the world where caste and race distinctions are forgotten where the religion is the same, it would appear to be in northern Africa, for the people at the Fair from that continent seemed utterly devoid of prejudice as regarded each other. The group here represented should have the addition of some swarthy Nubian chief, to convey a [...]
As the Fairgrounds Bern …
CHICAGO, Ill., January 23, 2021 — Our internet service provider has informed us that worldsfairchicago1893.com is obligated to contribute to the meme of the week. Here you go.
Jan. 18, 2021: “Black History and Arts in Chicago” (Hyde Park Book Club online)
The Hyde Park Book Club of the Hyde Park Historical Society will host an online discussion of books relating to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition at their next meeting honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On Monday, January 18, 2021, at 7:30 PM the Club will offer "Black History and Arts in Chicago with Richard Courage and Christopher Robert Reed" and discuss “All the World is Here!” The Black [...]
This brilliant architect and designer, John Wellborn Root
January 15, 2021, marks the 130th anniversary of the death of architect John Wellborn Root in 1891 at the age of 41. As Consulting Architect to the 1893 World’s Fair with his partner Daniel Burnham, Root’s invaluable contributions are recorded by Harriet Monroe in her chapter “The World’s Columbian Exposition” in John Wellborn Root: A Study of His Life and Work (Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1896), reprinted here. On [...]
110. Picturesque World’s Fair – Javanese Sweethearts
JAVANESE SWEETHEARTS.—The flavor of soft sentiment and romance almost civilized which pertained to the village of the gentle Javanese crystallized in one instance very prettily. Never, probably, did two Javanese before make so long a bridal tour as a couple who were at the Fair, for it extended from Chicago to their home in Java. Had they but fallen in love and wedded a little earlier they might have [...]
Christmas in the Palace of Fine Arts of the 1893 World’s Fair
More than a dozen works of art depicting Christmas themes adorned the halls of the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Edwin H. Blashfield's oil painting Christmas Bells (1891). [Image from Hitchcock, Ripley The Art of the World Illustrated in the Paintings, Statuary, and Architecture of the World's Columbian Exposition. D. Appleton, 1895.] An oil painting titled Christmas Bells (1891) by Edwin H. Blashfield [...]
December 24, 1890: An Invitation to all the Nations of the Earth to Exhibit at the World’s Columbian Exposition
One hundred and thirty years ago today, the President of the United States extended an invitation to the nations of the world to come together for a World’s Fair in Chicago. President Benjamin Harrison. [Image from Campbell, James B. Campbell's Illustrated History of the World's Columbian Exposition, Volume I. M. Juul & Co., 1894.] December 24, 1890 By the President of the United States of America A [...]