EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, Liza Marshall and Kris Thykier’s Archery Pictures has optioned Rattle, the debut novel by former Daily Mirror showbiz reporter Fiona Cummins, to be adapted into a TV series. Dark and compelling, Rattle is about a sinister bone collector who has a macabre obsession with his museum of medical oddities. Now it seems the time has come for a fresh harvest, and it’s down to Detective Etta Fitzroy to hunt down this psychopath before he can add to his collection.
The book caused a stir when it was introduced at book fairs this year, particularly given the current penchant for complex, driven female protagonists. Pan Macmillan secured UK and Commonwealth publishing rights. The Archery deal was brokered by Nish Panchal and Sam Greenwood at Curtis Brown. Cummins is repped by Sophie Lambert at Conville and Walsh.
Archery, set up less than a year ago by well-respected UK-based producers Thykier and Marshall, is rapidly building an impressive slate of international film and TV projects. The company is developing and will produce the Cote d’Azur-based TV crime drama Riviera with Neil Jordan (The Borgias) set to write, direct and showrun. The project is the brainchild of Paul McGuinness, rock group U2’s longtime former manager, with John Banville (Albert Nobbs) co-writing. On the TV side, Marshall is also working with Peter Kosminsky, Gwyneth Hughes and Adrian Hodges. The former Scott Free UK head, previously head of drama at the UK’s Channel 4, is one of the UK’s most versatile and formidable producers.
Archery Pictures also has Mafiya, the 10-part series scribed by William Nicholson (Everest, Les Miserables, Gladiator) and picked up by ITV and The Weinstein Company.
Thykier spent much of 2015 on set in Azerbaijan filming the epic love story Ali & Nino, starring Adam Bakri and Maria Valverde, with Asif Kapadia (Amy) directing the big-screen adaptation of Kurban Said’s bestselling Azerbaijan-set novel about two star-crossed lovers. Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) has written the script, with IM Global handling sales. It’s currently in post-production.
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