Orphan X is headed to the small screen, this according to a Deadline report that ran on Thursday afternoon.
Gregg Hurwitz, who launched the Orphan X franchise back in 2016, also wrote The Book of Henry, which was released in theatres last year, and has had a long and diverse writing career both in publishing as well as film and television. According to Deadline, he’ll co-adapt the books for a TV series, as well as executive produce the project alongside Scott Nemes, Head of Television for Makeready, who just snatched up the rights to the novel series. Likewise, Justin Lin (who directed several of the Fast and Furious movies) and Danielle Woodrow are slated to produce for Perfect Storm, in a partnership with Makeready.
This announcement is somewhat surprising as it was just three years ago when The Holywood Reporter ran an exclusive announcing that actor Bradley Cooper was in talks with Warner Bros. to produce and star as Evan Smoak in a major Orphan X movie. At the time, Warner Bros. had purchased the right to the books, and Cooper was riding a wave of success following his film American Sniper, where he portrayed legendary sniper Chris Kyle, one of the most feared and lethal snipers in the history of the United States military.
Since then, however, the buzz around the project has been relatively quiet, and with nothing in the works, Warner Bros. recently let the rights expire. Meanwhile, of course, the novel series is thriving.
Since publishing Orphan X, Hurwitz has released two more books, The Nowhere Man and Hellbent, with a planned fourth book, Out of the Dark: The Return of Orphan X, slated to hit bookstores on January 29, 2019. Deadline called the bidding for the rights a “competitive situation,” which Makeready ultimately won.
It appeares that Orphan X’s next mission is to takeover telivison. Stay tuned for more updates!
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck (“The Godfather of the thriller genre” — Ben Coes) has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.