According to Variety, Amazon MGM Studios is developing a television adaptation of the Cotton Malone book series written by Steve Berry (The Alexandria Link, The Amber Room). The series currently consists of 18 novels and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. The Templar Legacy was the first book published in 2006; the most recent one was published in February of this year. It was titled The Atlas Maneuver.
The logline is as follows: “An ex-U.S. Justice Department agent turned antiquarian book dealer, Cotton Malone continues to serve his country when secrets and conspiracies buried deep in America’s past come to light and threaten its future. These action-packed mysteries take Malone on international adventures, rooting out enemies not only in hostile nations, but in the highest echelons of the United States’ most powerful and clandestine cabals.”
Variety states that currently, there is no knowledge of which book would be the focus of the first season of the untitled Cotton Malone show.
Along with Berry, Brian Young (The Vampire Diaries, Fate: The Winx Saga) will serve as an executive producer and writer for the series per Variety. Lynley Bird (The Lorax, Despicable Me) and Patrick Morgan (Batman: The Long Halloween, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) from PKM Productions are executive producers under their deal with Amazon MGM Studios.
Young’s current project was the Winx Club’s live action series Fate: The Winx Saga, available on Netflix via Variety. The drama had two seasons on the streaming service before being canceled, as stated by an mxdwn article. As well as creating the show, Young was the showrunner and executive producer. He is represented by Hansen Jacobson and WME.
The untitled Cotton Malone television show is the latest installment of a book series adapted into a TV series. According to Variety, Prime Videos’ Reacher, based on the Jack Reacher books written by Lee Child (Killing Floor, In Too Deep), was the streamer’s most popular and successful book to TV adaptation. The show already announced a fourth season renewal even before season three premiered.
Other Prime Video book to TV show adaptations are The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Terminal List and The Wheel of Time. Upcoming series such as Scarpetta and Cross were also books first.