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
The Windy Cities Historians Podcast visits the Columbian Exposition
The Windy Cities Historians Podcast has been working its way chronologically through Chicago history and has now reached the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Episodes 19-21, “The Third Star,” are a three-part look at the event now represented in Chicago’s municipal flag. Co-hosts Chris Lynch and Patrick McBriarty interview Paul Durica, the Director of Exhibitions at the Newberry Library and co-editor of the annotated Chicago by Day and Night, and [...]
April 14, 2021: “The (Whole) Story of the 1893 Midway” (online)
Join the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) for a virtual walk down the Midway Plaisance of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, where visitors saw ice and snow in the summer, heard the clang of Egyptian swords, smelled bratwurst in a German Village, tasted Orange Cider, and felt the ground fall away as they ascended the Ferris Wheel. The CAC will be hosting an online lecture "The (Whole) Story of the 1893 [...]
The women of Effingham, Illinois, go the 1893 World’s Fair
Many small towns sent their best for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. "Effingham County [Illinois] had much to be proud of in its contributions to the exhibits in the Woman’s Building at the Columbian Exposition in 1893," writes Delaine Donaldson. "It’s women were achieving success in a variety of ways and were vital to shaping the course of the county’s history and future." See "A Yearlong Celebration" in [...]
Apr. 30, 2021: “A Day at the 1893 World’s Fair” (online)
Our friends at Chicago Detours have provided engaging and informative virtual programming during our pandemic quarantine, with online events such as “Innovations of the 1893 World’s Fair,” “Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair,” and “LGBT Chicago History in 1893.” They are heading back to the World’s Columbian Exposition on Friday, Apr. 30, 2021, with a virtual tour called “A Day at the 1893 World's Fair.” They will depart for [...]
115. Picturesque World’s Fair – Under the Horticulture Building Dome
UNDER THE HORTICULTURE BUILDING DOME.—The largest hothouse in the world had sights worth seeing. The great dome of the Horticulture Building, one hundred and eighty feet in height and one hundred and fourteen feet in diameter, overhung a charming scene where gigantic palms, ferns, bamboos and other products of tropical growth were flourishing, and where one coming in from the grounds outside seemed transported suddenly to some equatorial country. [...]
Conrad Seipp Columbia Bock is Back from 1893 World’s Fair
The 1893 World’s Fair bar is stocked with a new brew. Columbia Bock from Chicago-based Conrad Seipp Brewing joins Revolution Brewing’s “Fist City” beer, Temperance Beer Company’s “All the World is Here” beer, Virtue Cider’s Southcider, Journeyman Distillery’s Field Gin, and the long line of Columbian Exposition themed products from Few Spirits. Columbia Bock from Chicago-based Conrad Seipp Brewing. The German-style lager is an attempt to recreate [...]
“Farthest North”: An Arctic Tableau at the 1893 World’s Fair
Crowds gather at the 1893 World's Fair to see a panorama depicting the Greely Expedition to the North Pole. [Image from the Illustrated American World's Fair Special Issue, 1893.] Seventy five years ago today, arctic explorer David L. Brainard (1856–1946) died at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. He was the last survivor of the famous Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881–84 under the command of Lieutenant [...]
From Hades to Heaven: Penelope Gleason Knapp’s Visit to the Court of Honor
A visit to the 1893 World’s Fair inspired Penelope Gleason Knapp to pen a romantic and effusive love letter to the wonders of the White City. With Victorian flourish, she describes her rapturous experience in the Court of Honor, “where enchantment reigns supreme.” Her memoir offers a reminder that electric illumination on such a grand scale was an overwhelming experience for many visitors from small towns in America. Penelope [...]
A gem from the 1893 World’s Fair is back on display in New York
A massive block of vibrant blue azurite and green malachite that was first exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago is back on display in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York. Among the approximately 5,000 pieces on display in their new Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, which reopened on February 17, 2021, is a popular artifact from the Fair that [...]
Pieces of Siam Pavilion from the 1893 World’s Fair Sell for $1,600
Carved wood architectural brackets, reportedly from a Siam exhibit at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. [Image from Fairfield Auction.] A set of fifteen carved architectural brackets, possibly from the Siam Pavilion at the 1893 World’s Fair, sold at auction for $1,600 on Mar 10, 2021. Fairfield Auction offered the interesting lot, described as coming from the Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, CT, which had obtained them “reportedly from [...]