Tradecraft For September 21, 2007
FX Spies Uhls
The FX network has first-rate cop shows (The Shield is hands-down the best drama on television), crook shows, con-man shows and lawyer shows; isn't it time for a spy show? Fight Club writer Jim Uhls seems to think yes! According to Variety, Uhls is developing Paranoid, "an edgy thriller with themes of privacy and spying" for the cable network. The trade goes on to describe the series as "a modern-day The Parallax View centering on a surveillance agent who himself may be spied upon, all set against Patriot Act-America" and quote sources as saying, "a pilot deal is likely but has not officially been ordered."
Agent Zigzag
Variety also reports that New Line has won a bidding war for the screen rights to the Ben Macintyre book Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love and Betrayal. Tom Hanks will produce. According to the trade, "it's the true story of Edward Arnold Chapman, a career criminal who spied on the Germans for the British in WWII."
The Horowitz Project
The Hollywood Reporter reveals the title of Alex Rider author Anthony Horowitz's previously reported American TV project: Raffik. The trade calls it "a character-driven one-hour" about "an Albanian detective sent to the US whose enthusiasm for everything American inspires and baffles his new Los Angeles police partners." Darren Star co-produces.
Agent Zigzag sounds like a remake of Triple Cross which starrred Christopher Plummer as Chapman. The film also featured Claudine Auger, Yul Brynner and Trevor Howard - all names familiar to fans of espionage cinema. And it was directed by Terence Young.
ReplyDeleteGood catch! I've seen Triple Cross and I totally failed to make the connection as I blindly conveyed the Variety story! This new book has been getting a lot of great reviews. I don't know if the author was privvy to new information about Chapman, or just assembled what was out there really well, but he's clearly generated new interest in the man.
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