Following the success of AMC and the BBC’s The Night Manager at the Golden Globes the two networks are collaborating again to bring another of spymaster John le Carré novels to the small screen. The Tom Hiddleston starring miniseries swept the boards at the Globes last weekend, winning awards for Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman and the series itself.
Word reached us from the TCA this weekend that the production team would be reuniting to adapt le Carré ‘s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. The 1963 novel centres around a British agent sent to East Germany as a defector to pass on information about a powerful enemy. It was made into a film in 1965, directed by Martin Ritt and starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom.
The small screen has seen its share of gripping mini series in its time, and the last few years have shown that audiences are very excited for new re-tellings of old stories. Simon Beaufoy is the man tasked with bringing the le Carré’s thrilling tale of espionage to television. Beaufoy won an Oscar in 2009 for his adapted screenplay for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.
The Night Manager production partners Ink Factory and Character 7 are back on board, Joel Stillerman, AMC and SundanceTV president of original programming and development commented,
“Spy is a deep tale of intrigue in one of the most uncertain times in history. We’re very much looking forward to continuing our great partnership with Ink Factory and BBC as well as Paramount Television.”
Backslapping aside, this underlines again the importance of the mini series (or ‘limited series’ if you must) for the television networks. Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was a solid cinematic version of one of the author’s most beloved tales back in 2011, which maybe would have found it way onto television had it been made today.
No word yet on casting or director, Beaufoy being the only announced participant thus far. Tom Hiddleston made waves with his leading role in The Night Manager, perhaps Tom Hardy might be the man to inherit Burton’s crown? His recent dabbling in the TV mini series, Taboo, is a sure sign that film actors are willing to make the leap if the material is right.
