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
A 360-Degree View of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (Sneak Peek)
The Chicago 00 Project has released a sneak peek of their upcoming an augmented and virtual reality experience, The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, to be published in early 2020. A partnership between the Chicago History Museum and filmmaker Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, the Chicago 00 Project has been producing a series of interactive multimedia experiences using historical images of important sites and events in Chicago. Their augmented reality app allows participant [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Fort Sheridan in the Government Building (p. 89)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 89 – FORT SHERIDAN IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING FORT SHERIDAN IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING.—In point of reproduction, under a roof, of certain objects connected with the aim of its display the government did exceptionally well. The lay figures of soldiers and animals, the first to exhibit styles of uniforms of different eras, the second to illustrate means of transportation [...]
Oct. 31, 2019: “Devil In The White City” Halloween party (Chicago)
Flight Club, a social darts club with bar and restaurant, will re-imagine the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair for Halloween with a "Devil In The White City" party. For $49, partiers can toss back darts, drinks & dinner amidst the madness, magicians, fortune-tellers & murder mysteries. Flight Club is located at 111 W. Wacker Drive in Chicago.
“The Current War” offers only a dimly lit view of the 1893 World’s Fair
The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago shines on the big screen, if only for a few minutes. The Current War (2017, released 2019) tells the story of the rancorous rivalry between inventor Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), who adamantly championed direct current (DC) technologies to electrify and illuminate American cities, and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), who banked on alternating current (AC). The legendary “war of the currents” has these titans of [...]
“Greatly Interested in the World’s Fair is the Wizard.” Thomas Edison’s 1891 Visit to Chicago
Thomas Edison visited Chicago on May 12, 1891, staying for several days “to attend to some private interests” and to consult with Prof. John P. Barrett, Chief of the Department of Electricity and Electrical Appliances for the World’s Columbian Exposition. [“Proposition for a Compromise” Chicago Inter Ocean May 12, 1891, p. 8.] The article below, from the front page of the May 12, 1891, issue of the Chicago Evening [...]
“Quietly Enjoying His Lunch.” Thomas Edison Visits the 1893 World’s Fair
In August 1893, Thomas A. Edison visited the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. His time at the World's Fair bears little resemblance to the story portrayed on screen in The Current War. According to the report below, from the September 2, 1893, issue of Electrical Review, Edison kept a low profile and showed little interest in the electrical exhibits. Thomas A. Edison, accompanied by his family, arrived in Chicago [...]
Guidance for the Unsophisticated
Before “Goin’ to the Fair,” Americans received unsolicited advice in their small-town newspapers on how to navigate the city of Chicago during their visit to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The June 22, 1893, issue of the Mount Vernon (OH) Democratic Banner offered these words of guidance: There is little doubt that a large proportion of those who will attend the World's Fair ought to be under the charge [...]
Goin’ to the Fair
Americans planning to visit the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago were inundated with cautionary tales about evil trappings in the big city and stories of tourists being ripped off. While an event the size of the World’s Columbian Exposition certainly had its fair share of scammers, reports of exorbitant prices on the fairgrounds were largely unsubstantiated. Even before the opening of the Fair, the poem reprinted below offered guidance [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Interior of Machinery Hall (p. 88)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 88 – INTERIOR OF MACHINERY HALL INTERIOR OF MACHINERY HALL.—Quite different from the view afforded inside any other of the buildings of the Fair was that where the acres of all kinds of modern machinery were exposed in competition. So constructed that the most effective display of such exhibits could be made, the vast hall presented a scene never [...]
Oct. 24, 2019: “A History of Illinois Ferris Wheels and the 1893 Columbian Exposition” (Assumption, IL)
Macon County Historian Mark Sorensen will speak about the 1893 World’s Fair at the Oct. 24 meeting of the Assumption Historical Society in Assumption, IL. His illustrated talk on “A History of Illinois Ferris Wheels and the 1893 Columbian Exposition” starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Bromwell Lodge (225 N. Chestnut St. in Assumption) and is free and open to the public.