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
Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895), dean of American Architecture
Today marks the anniversary of the death of Richard Morris Hunt, on July 31, 1895. Among the most revered architects working in the U.S. at the time of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Hunt was invited to contribute a design for the Administration Building, which stood in a position of honor at the west end of the Grand Basin. The magnificent classical Beaux-Arts building, capped by a gleaming gold dome, [...]
White City Beautiful
Where can we find remains of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition? All around us! While few buildings of the White City remain, the urban planning movement it ushered in endures. In “A Case for Civic Splendor: Notes on the City Beautiful Movement," Kayla Bartsch, writing for the National Review, opens with a look back at the “gleaming citadel” on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1893. She reminds us [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Brazil Building (p. 83)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 83 – THE BRAZIL BUILDING THE BRAZIL BUILDING.—The structure erected by the greatest of the South American Republics was what might have been expected from that great country. Brazil appropriated for the Columbian Exposition no less than $600,000, and of this sum $50,000 was expended on the building where all visitors were entertained and where were the official head-quarters [...]
Tales from the Swedish Café
Swedes from Chicago and around the world celebrated Sweden Day at the World’s Columbian Exposition on July 20, 1893. Many of the festive events took place at the beautiful Swedish Building. Nearby stood the Swedish Restaurant, which served as another site for Swedes to gather on the fairgrounds and as a concession to showcase Scandinavian fare to visitors from around the world. The Swedish Restaurant (also called the Swedish [...]
Chicago’s Alligator Problems
“One day spent among the curious works of nature found in the Fish and Fisheries building was worth a whole year’s reading about them.” -- “Exposition as an Educator” in Campbell's Illustrated History of the World's Columbian Exposition. A new resident to a Chicago city park has been (occasionally) making waves and making international news. An alligator spotted earlier this week swimming the lagoon of Humboldt Park is now [...]
Maillard’s Mammoth Chocolate Statues
July 7 is World Chocolate Day (by some accounts), so let’s celebrate ... 1893 style! Chocolate and cocoa could be found in many locations on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Blooker’s Dutch Cocoa Windmill and House was one lovely display where visitors could sample some hot cocoa, but a set of mammoth chocolate statues exhibited by Maillard’s chocolates in the Agricultural Building must have been [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Michigan Building (p. 81)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 81 – THE MICHIGAN BUILDING THE MICHIGAN BUILDING.—Of all the State buildings on the Fair grounds none was more popular than the Michigan Building. Standing near the Fifty-seventh street entrance, its handsome front catching the eye of visitors, its doors always hospitably open, not to Michigan people alone but to the multitude, and its spacious rooms and luxurious appointments [...]
“Moving With Perfect Freedom” on the Fourth of July, 1893
The Fourth of July was one of the great “Special Days” of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The passage below comes from “The World's College of Democracy” by John Brisben Walker, published in the September 1893 issue of The Cosmopolitan, of which he was the owner and editor. Of all the wonders of the Fair around him, Walker boasts most about the conduct of the visitors on [...]
1893 World’s Fair Coming to the Big Screen in THE CURRENT WAR
The lights are back on for a film partially set on the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Scheduled to open in October 2019 is The Current War, a historical drama about the legendary “war of the currents” between titans of the electrical industry who are setting their sights on powering the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. The Current War tells the story of the vicious rivalry between [...]
2019 History Fairs Showcase Student Research on the 1893 World’s Fair
Several Chicago area students have been researching the 1893 World’s Fair and presented their project at spring history fairs. The Chicago Metro History Fair engages students in grades 6 through 12 in a research project relating to local history. A set of History Fair events during the Spring of 2019 culminated in the Finals competitions at Chicago History Museum on April 10, 2019. Some of these projects were advanced to [...]