The Devil in the White City Quietly Axed Following Keanu Reeves Exit

Hulu has quietly axed the series adaptation of The Devil in the White City that formerly had Keanu Reeves attached to star.

As reported by Variety, The Devil in the White City is spiralling back down into development hell after hitting another roadblock as Hulu has decided not to move ahead with the limited series, which was going to adapt Erik Larson’s bestselling novel of the same name.

Per the official logline, the show would have told “the true story of Daniel H. Burnham, a demanding but visionary architect who races to make his mark on history with the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and Dr. H. H. Holmes, America’s first modern serial killer and the man behind the notorious ‘Murder Castle’ built in the Fair’s shadow.”

Leonardo DiCaprio acquired the film rights to the book in 2010, with plans to adapt the story for a feature film. However, the project shifted gears and became a limited series at Hulu, with DiCaprio executive producing alongside his longtime collaborator Martin Scorsese.

The long-gestating series initially landed at Hulu for development in 2019 before being officially ordered to series at the streamer last year. However, the adaptation may not be completely dead, as one source claims that “there are plans to shop the project to other outlets.”

News of Hulu’s decision to pull the plug on the project comes a few months after the series lost its director Todd Field and leading man Keanu Reeves. Reeves was attached to play Burnham in what would have been the first major television role of the actor’s career.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.