Studio Lambert has optioned the exclusive TV rights to Hallie Rubenhold’s new book, Story of A Murder: The Wives, the Mistress and Dr Crippen.
All3Media-backed Studio Lambert’s previous scripted shows include comedy drama Boarders, BAFTA winning Three Girls and The Nest.
Screenwriter Amanda Coe is adapting the book for Studio Lambert. Coe’s work includes Black Narcissus for FX starring Gemma Arterton, Apple Tree Yard for BBC One watched by 9 million and her BAFTA winning adaptation of John Braine’s Room at the Top.
Hallie Rubenhold’s has previously written best seller The Five: The Women Killed by Jack the Ripper and her new book is a “revelatory retelling of one of the most infamous murders of the 20th century and the extraordinary women who helped catch the killer.”
When the mutilated remains of Belle Elmore, a vivacious music hall performer, were uncovered in a North London cellar, a global media frenzy was triggered. The crime was sensational. A high-energy transatlantic manhunt for Belle’s husband, Dr Crippen, and his young lover Ethel le Neve (posing as Crippen’s son with cropped hair) was improbably dramatic. The ensuing murder trial shook society to its very core.
Dr Crippen has always been the star of this true crime story. In Hallie’s dramatic book, it’s the colourful and complicated female characters who are brought three-dimensionally to life and set powerfully at the story’s epic heart. The truths they reveal are jaw-dropping. And driving through it all, the unsettling question: was Ethel, Crippen’s secretary and mistress, truly as innocent of the murder as she wanted the world to believe?
Madeleine Sinclair, Creative Director for Studio Lambert, Scripted said: “We’re thrilled to have brought together the incredible talents of Amanda and Hallie for this exciting series. I can’t wait for Amanda to bring to the screen Hallie’s rich portrayal of the women at the heart of this true crime, to deliver an utterly gripping and fascinating drama.”
Screenwriter Amanda Coe said: “Hallie’s book is an irresistible ride through a story with all the ingredients that make a compelling drama – not least its invitation to consider what makes us see women as either victims or monsters. As soon as I read it I wanted to see its many fascinating worlds and nuanced characters on screen.”
Author Hallie Rubenhold said: “It’s thrilling to be working with Studio Lambert and Amanda Coe on what I know will be a rip-roaring epic of an adaptation. It’s time for historic true crime narratives to move on, away from glamorising killers to telling the wider ‘story of a murder’, one which encompasses the many compelling dramas of those impacted by such an act.”
Story of A Murder will be developed by Studio Lambert. The book will be released in the UK by Penguin Random House on March 27th and was published in the US by Dutton/Penguin Random House on March 25th.
Image: (C) Sarah Blackie
Jon Creamer
Share this story
