Will Devil in the White City be made into a movie?

With a real-life "murder castle," a 19th-century setting, and the world's first ferris wheel, Erik Larson's best-selling book, The Devil in the White City, has been begging for an onscreen adaption since it was published in 2003. And with Keanu Reeves starring in his first major television role and Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio lined up to produce, it seems the source material is in very capable hands.

Here's what we know about the upcoming Hulu series.

Hulu announced that the project was coming back in 2019.

At the Television Critics Association Press Tour, Craig Erwich, Hulu’s senior vice president of originals, said that The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic And Madness At The Fair That Changed America was being developed into a series for Hulu—with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese attached to the produce.

In an earlier iteration of the project, DiCaprio was set to star as serial killer Dr. H.H. Holmes, but in 2022, Keanu Reeves was announced to star. This marks Reeves's first major TV role in the U.S.

Erik Larson The Devil in the White City

Erik Larson The Devil in the White CityCredit: Courtesy

The story follows Henry H. Holmes, a.k.a. Dr. H. H. Holmes, America’s first modern serial killer who built a "Murder Castle" in the shadow of the 1893 World Fair, and Daniel Hudson Burnham, the director of works at the Fair. As the publisher's description of the Erik Larson book reads: "Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century."

It was originally supposed to be a movie.

DiCaprio has been trying to bring H.H. Holmes's story to the screen since 2003, but a lot has changed along the way. For one, DiCaprio hasn't always held the rights to the book. Originally, he was hoping to work from public domain material about Holmes, who is said to have murdered somewhere between 27 and 200 people during the 1893 World's Fair.

Tom Cruise and Kathryn Bigelow, another actor-director team, initially had the rights. Their agreement lapsed in 2004, and DiCaprio acquired it thereafter. In 2015, he brought on Scorsese, who's been attached to the project since.

All previously announced projects were set to be feature films. This series project for Hulu adds a new twist to the adaptation.

A view of Holmes’s "Murder Castle."

Devil in the White City is set to premiere sometime in 2024.

Per Deadline, production on the show is not expected to begin until 2023, and Hulu is targeting a 2024 release.

Nearly two decades after it was first optioned, The Devil in the White City is finally making its way to a small screen near you. That being, if Hulu can find a new star. Just two months after it was announced that Keanu Reeves would be leading the eight-part limited series, the John Wick star has reportedly already pulled the plug. Sources close to the adaptation of Erik Larson's bestseller told The Hollywood Reporter that Hulu was already searching for a new lead following Reeves's departure.

The limited series, which has been in development for over a decade, excited fans when Hulu made the official announcement back in August. The Devil in the White City will depict serial killers, “murder castles,” and carnivals. It now just needs an all-new A-list star. Read on for a full breakdown of everything else we know about the series thus far.

What Is The Devil in the White City About?

Published in 2003, The Devil in the White City is a work of historical nonfiction set at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. There, an architect and a murderer collided during the historic fair. The architect was Daniel H. Burham, the visionary designer of structures like the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington D.C., who overcame tremendous obstacles to transform a swampy patch of land into the fair’s White City. The murderer was Dr. Henry H. Holmes, America’s first modern serial killer, who notably constructed the notorious “Murder Castle” in the fair’s shadow, which contained a dissection table, a gas chamber, and a crematorium. The Devil in the White City spins a spellbinding tale of how these two men’s lives intersected.

Vintage The Devil in the White City

Vintage The Devil in the White City

What Is The Devil in the White City’s Path to the Screen?

It’s been a long and winding road for The Devil in the White City to land at Hulu. Way back in 2003, Tom Cruise snatched up the rights and attached Kathryn Bigelow to direct, but both ultimately parted ways with the project. In 2008, Eric Roth (the writer of Forrest Gump) wrote a script that reportedly interested David Fincher, but the project once again fizzled. Then, in 2010, Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions acquired the film rights. In 2015, Martin Scorsese came aboard to direct, but it wasn’t until 2019 that the project ultimately headed to Hulu. Now, three years later, The Devil in the White City is once again in development hell.

Who’s Attached?

Reeves was previously set to star as Daniel H. Burnham, as well as serve as an executive producer. Two months after making the announcement, however, The Matrix star left the project. Seems like everybody and their brother wants to be an executive producer—the list includes Scorsese, DiCaprio, Rick Yorn, Jennifer Davisson, Stacey Sher, Sam Shaw, Lila Byock, Todd Field, and Mark Lafferty. Shaw is writing the script and will serve as showrunner, while Field will direct. You may know Shaw from his work on Castle Rock and Masters of Sex, while Field has written and directed plenty of projects, including Little Children and the upcoming TÁR.

When Will The Devil in the White City Come Out?

We’re going to have to wait quite a while for this one, especially now that Reeves is out. Production was previously set to commence next year, but it's tough to tell if we’re still looking at a 2024 release date now that their star has to be replaced. By then, you’ll surely have time to read the book first.

Adrienne Westenfeld is the Books and Fiction Editor at Esquire, where she oversees books coverage, edits fiction, and curates the Esquire Book Club. 

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