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 ofย 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 toย 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. ย 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 Reevesย 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 Fieldย (exited 10/10/2022)- Mark Lafferty
- ?ย Emma Koskoff
Writers
Directors
Todd Field reportedly will direct the first two episodes.ย (out 10/10/2022)
More Information
Internet Movie Database (IMDB) page for the miniseriesย 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
Some Recent Podcasts about the 1893 Worldโs Fair
Listen up! Several new podcasts discuss a wide variety of interesting topics about the 1893 Worldโs Columbian Exposition, from the Ferris Wheel to a Beer War. Grab your ear buds and check them out. If you know of other recent 183 World's Fair podcasts, let us know or post a link in the Comments below. Engines of Our Ingenuity 1968 โVignettes From the Fairโ (Dec. 13, 2020) Everything, Ranked [...]
Tiffany & Co. Silver Yachting Cup from the 1893 Worldโs Fair Sells for $62,500
A yachting trophy designed by Tiffany & Company and exhibited in their pavilion at the 1893 Worldโs Columbian Exposition sold for $62,500 at Heritage Auctionsโ Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu Signature Auction on November 17, 2020. According to Heritage, Ogden Goelet commissioned two cups for the races that would be held during New York Yacht Clubs Annual Cruise in 1892. The following year the cup was on display [...]
Some New 1893 Worldโs Fair Products
If you are shopping for a gift to give a Columbian Exposition enthusiast or just want to treat yourself to a little something during the holiday season, check on these products relating to the 1893 Worldโs Fair. Note: We provide this announcement of new products without any compensation from vendors. Prices and availability subject to change. Tedโs vintage art offers a super-high quality, digitally restored print of a โVintage [...]
Daniel Burnham Inducted into Lincoln Academy Hall of Fame
Daniel Burnham, Director of Works for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, is one of five Illinois figures inducted into the Lincoln Academy of Illinois Hall of Fame of Historic Illinoisans. The Academyโs citation for Burnham reads: Daniel Burnhamย (1846 โ 1912) is famously quoted as saying, โMake no little plans. They have no magic to stir menโs blood and probably will not themselves be realized.โ He was an environmentalist, architect [...]
Seasonโs Readings: New Books about the Worldโs Columbian Exposition
2019 brought several additions to the Worldโs Columbian Exposition bookshelf.
109. Picturesque Worldโs Fair โ Athletic Pastimes in A Street In Cairo
ATHLETIC PASTIMES IN A STREET IN CAIRO.โ They were unquestionably a merry lot who made up the resident population of a Street in Cairo, so full of animal spirits as to often engage in their pastimes, even when there were no visitors in attendance. Naturally, among such people, with such lives as theirs had been, physical prowess was held in high esteem, and the hero of a combat with [...]
Dec. 19, 2020: Chicago History Book Club discusses the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (online)
DATE CHANGE The Chicago History Book Club will discuss three books about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition during their online meeting at 10 am on Saturday, December 19: Robert Muccigrosso's Celebrating the New World: Chicagoโs Columbian Exposition of 1893 (Ivan R. Dee, 1993), Erik Larson's best-selling The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (Crown, 2003), and Jeanne Madeline Weimann's The [...]
โHalcyon Days in the Dream Cityโโ Part 17: โValeโ
Halcyon Days in the Dream City by Mrs. D. C. Taylor Continued from Part 16 The sun has set for the last time on the World's Fair of โ93; for the last time his dying smile has lighted up the fairy courts, the gleaming splendor of statue and portal. Slowly as he sinks to rest, so slowly, solemnly, sinks the forest of fluttering flags and banners; each tall staff [...]
โHalcyon Days in the Dream Cityโโ Part 16: The Transportation Building
Halcyon Days in the Dream City by Mrs. D. C. Taylor Continued from Part 15 Let us go through the โGolden Gate,โ not the gate of the Holy City, but a gate the architect of which must have been dreaming of wondrous Bible imagery, when he designed it.[1] Arch beyond arch, receding, diminishing as they recede, till the last one is about the dimensions of some grand cathedral door, [...]
Commonplace Fun Facts Relives the Wonder of the 1893 Chicago Worldโs Fair
We appreciate the invitation to โRelive the Wonder of the 1893 Chicago Worldโs Fairโ from Commonplace Fun Facts. The websiteโs fascinating โcollection of trivia, fun facts, humor, and interesting notionsโ includes a few other posts that feature some Columbian connections, including one about popcorn history and another about Chicagoโs โWindy Cityโ moniker. Check it out.