Orphan X to be adapted for TV by Makeready and Justin Lin

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Gregg Hurwitz’s bestselling Orphan X series has been acquired by Brad Weston’s Makeready.

Weston’s Makeready is planning on making the spy thriller books into a TV series along with Justin Lin’s Perfect Storm Entertainment. Scott Nemes for Makeready will also executive produce along with Danielle Woodrow for Perfect Storm. Hurwitz will co-adapt the Orphan X series for television. Makeready scooped up the book rights when Warner Bros. – who had acquired the rights before the books’ release – allowed their rights to expire.

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The books are a series of Jason Bourne-like thrillers featuring protagonist and government assassin Evan Smoak. Smoak escapes the secret governmental Orphan Program who trained him from the age of twelve to be an assassin. Just as he’s starting a new life for himself he returns to save the last Orphan before the government eliminates every shred of evidence that the program ever existed. Three of the five book series (Orphan X, The Nowhere Man, and Hellbent) have already been released, with Out of the Dark: The Return of Orphan X scheduled for release in January 2019.

“True franchise characters in this genre such as Jack Reacher or Jason Bourne rarely come along, and Gregg created a really modern version of that,” said Weston. “The novels progress and lay out really perfectly with twists and evolving personal stakes that the plan is for each book to be a new season.“

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Orphan X was a competitive title to obtain, partly because the series is essentially franchise-ready, which – aside from creative considerations – is a highly lucrative acquisition. Justin Lin is a veteran of high energy action, having directed the likes of The Fast and the Furious and Star Trek Into Darkness. For TV he’s currently producing CBS’s Magnum P.I. reboot. He is the perfect partner to have for a series like this.

Source: Deadline