Archery Pictures, the U.K. production banner founded last year by former Scott Free London head Liza Marshall and film veteran Kris Thykier, has added to its growing slate of upcoming TV projects.
The company has optioned Rattle, the debut novel of former tabloid show-business journalist Fiona Cummins, which follows a detective on the hunt for a psychopathic bone collector with a macabre obsession with museum and medical oddities. The book, which has been picked up by Pan MacMillan for the U.K., is due out in 2017.
“Fiona’s book is a wonderful read that’s impossible to put down,” said Marshall. “It’s a gripping thriller but also deals with the pressures of family life in a compelling and thought-provoking manner. I think it will make brilliant television.”
Added Cummins: “Archery Pictures is one of the most exciting production companies in the U.K. today, and I’m particularly thrilled to be working with Liza Marshall, who has built an impressive career championing literary material to screen.”
Rattle joins two major productions in the works at Archery. Mafiya, a 10-part series written by William Nicholson (Gladiator, Everest, Les Miserables), chronicles the fall of the Soviet Union and the ensuing scramble for power in Moscow. ITV Studios and The Weinstein Co. have boarded the project, with cast members expected to be announced soon. The production company is also working with Neil Jordan (The Borgias) on his upcoming Cote d’Azur-based family crime-drama Riviera.
