PI shows continue to be a hot commodity. Hulu is developing Suspect, a drama series based on Scott Turow‘s 2022 novel from The Handmaid’s Tale duo of Marissa Jo Cerar and Bruce Miller and producer-director Matt Shakman.
Written by Cerar, Suspect centers on Pinky, a private investigator, who searches for evidence to exonerate a female police chief accused of extorting sex from male officers in exchange for job promotions.
Cerar executive produces with Miller, Shakman, Turow and MGM. 20th Television is the studio.
Suspect was initially optioned by Shakman. Turow announced the deal last fall.
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“I’m excited to see what the hyper-talented Matt Shakman, director of Fabulous Four: First Steps, and his great team at Foolscap Productions, who have optioned Suspect for a streaming series, come up with,” he wrote on FB, calling the book’s protagonist an “oddball private investigator.”
Suspect is looking to join a wave of PI shows. NBC has drama The Rockford Files, a reboot of the 1970s classic, and single-camera comedy Sunset P.I. launching next season. Netflix has The Man On the Inside, starring Ted Danson, ABC has R.J. Decker, headlined by Scott Speedman.
And there are more PI projects in the pipeline, including a series adaptation of the Adam Brody movie The Kid Detective, also in development at Hulu with Rachel Kaplan producing.
Cerar was a writer/supervising producer on the third season of Hulu’s Emmy-winning drama The Handmaid’s Tale, created, executive produced and showrun by Miller. Her long history with Disney also includes two series, which she created and served as executive producer and showrunner on, ABC’s Women of the Movement and Hulu’s Black Cake, an adaptation of Charmaine Wilkerson’s best-selling novel. Cerar is repped by CAA, Heroes and Villains Entertainment, and attorney Kim Stenton at Myman Greenspan.
Miller is the creator, executive producer and showrunner the Hulu/20th TV/MGM series The Testaments, a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, which was recently renewed for a second season. The new series has amassed 45 million hours streamed globally to date. Miller is repped by CAA and Jackoway Austen
Shakman just wrapped directing the pilot and finale of Wild Things, starring Jude Law and Andrew Garfield, for Apple TV. He previously produced and directed WandaVision for Marvel/Disney+ and directed the pilots for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and The Great. He is set to direct and produce a new Planet of the Apes for 20th Century Studios. Shakman is repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment.