Showtime Orders ‘Ripley’ Series, Based On Patricia Highsmith Novels Starring Andrew Scott
Showtime has ordered drama ‘Ripley‘, based on the Patricia Highsmith series of novels and starring Andrew Scott, the network has announced today.
The first eight-episode season of the ongoing drama series will be written and directed by Oscar-winner Steven Zaillian (‘Schindler’s List’, ‘The Night Of’), based on Highsmith’s bestselling quintet of Tom Ripley novels. BAFTA Award winner Andrew Scott (‘Fleabag’, ‘Sherlock’) will star in the title role of Tom Ripley. In the series, Tom Ripley, a grifter scraping by in early 1960s New York, is hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy to try to convince his vagabond son to return home. Tom’s acceptance of the job is the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder.
“We are so thrilled to have the supremely talented filmmaker, Steve Zaillian, adapt the singular saga of Tom Ripley from Patricia Highsmith’s novels as an ongoing series for SHOWTIME,” commented Gary Levine co-President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. “With Andrew Scott, whose charisma knows no bounds, inhabiting the iconic lead role, we feel confident that this will be a special one.”
Scott first really ingrained himself in the public imagination with his fantastic portrayal of Moriarty in ‘Sherlock’. More recently, he turned in a memorable performance in the Emmy-winning ‘Fleabag’ as the Priest, and as an unstable cabbie in the latest season of ‘Black Mirror’. He has also appeared in ‘Spectre’, ‘The Hour’, ‘Foyle’s War’, and ‘John Adams’, and will next pop up in the upcoming BBC/HBO series ‘His Dark Materials’. Also an Olivier Award-winning theatre actor, his most recent work in the United Kingdom includes ‘Present Laughter’ at The Old Vic, ‘Hamlet’ (for which he won the Critics Circle Award and was nominated for an Olivier Award and The Evening Standard Award) and ‘Birdland’.
Zaillian won Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA screenplay awards for ‘Schindler’s List’ and was also nominated for all three honours for his work on ‘Moneyball’. He has received two other Oscar nominations, for ‘Gangs of New York’ and ‘Awakenings’, as well as BAFTA noms for ‘Gangs of New York’ and ‘American Gangster’. In addition, he received Emmy nominations in both writing and directing and won the DGA award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement for ‘The Night Of’, which he executive produced and which also received an Outstanding Limited Series nomination. His other writing credits also include ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’, ‘Hannibal’, and ‘Clear and Present Danger’.
This isn’t the first time the Tom Ripley novels have been adapted for the screen. There have been numerous versions over the years, most notably the 1999 film adaptation of ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ with Matt Damon in the title role, and the 2002 movie ‘Ripley’s Game’ which saw John Malkovich as the lead. There have also been a number of adaptations for both stage and radio.
‘Ripley‘ is co-produced by Showtime and Endemol Shine North America in association with Entertainment 360 and Filmrights. Executive producers are Steven Zaillian, Garrett Basch, Guymon Casady, Ben Forkner, Sharon Levy and Philipp Keel of Diogenes. Scott will serve as a producer on the series.
