The Cormoran Strike Mysteries: Will HBO Team with BBC on JK Rowling TV Series?

In a TV Wise exclusive, Patrick Munn reports that HBO is looking to co-produce the BBC One TV series, The Cormoran Strike Mysteries. The show is based on the JK Rowling book series, published under her pen-name, Robert Galbraith.

In a press release dated September 22, 2015, the BBC announced The Cormoran Strike Mysteries TV show adaptation will be made by Rowling and Neil Blair’s Brontë Film and Television production company. According to the BBC, Brontë Film and Television produces another Rowling book-to-TV adaptation, The Casual Vacancy, which Munn reports is already being co-produced by BBC One and HBO.

Per the BBC press release, Sarah Phelps is adapting the first Cormoran book, The Cuckoo’s Calling, with Ben Richards adapting the second title, The Silkworm. Ruth Kenley-Letts, Neil Blair, and JK Rowling are executive producers, with Lucy Richer for the BBC. Dan McCulloch will produce and Julian Farino will direct.

According to TV Wise, Phelps and Rowling formed a solid professional relationship, while Phelps was adapting The Casual Vacancy. Munn reports sources close to the project assure him that HBO and the BBC will close this deal.

Here’s a description of The Cormoran Strike Mysteries, from the BBC:

The Cormoran Strike Mysteries

Based on Robert Galbraith’s best-selling novels The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm, and the highly anticipated Career Of Evil, due for publication this autumn, this bold series from a master storyteller will bring one of the most memorable detective duos of modern times to BBC One.

Steeped in the atmosphere of contemporary London, Cormoran Strike’s city is far from the bright lights and frenetic bustle, immersed instead in its darker, murkier side. War veteran turned private detective, Strike investigates shocking crimes together with his female assistant Robin, whose forensic mind and fierce determination he cannot ignore. The murders take them from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the literary haunts of Fitzrovia, exposing the seedy reality lurking beneath seemingly innocent societies. With each crime, they discover a little more about each other and both learn that appearances can be deceptive.

As reported on Galbraith’s website, Career of Evil, the third Cormoran Strike installment, was published October 22, 2015. Here is the description:

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible- and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.

With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…

What do you think? Have you read The Cormoran Strike mystery book series? How do you think it will play out as a TV show? When it premieres, do you plan to watch? Tell us.