Penguin Random House: C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett Novels to be Adapted for Spectrum TV Series
New York Times bestselling author C.J. Box, who has penned 21 Joe Pickett novels published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, will see the adventures of his Wyoming game warden character adapted for television in a new Spectrum Originals series, it was reported by Deadline. Spectrum also announced that actor Michael Dorman will be the lead star in the hour-long Joe Pickett drama, which will span ten episodes.
Michael Dorman
“C.J. Box’s brilliant and beloved Joe Pickett novels draw you in with the quiet beauty of the Wyoming setting, but it’s the characters that keep you riveted in their complexity, passion and unique points of view — for better or worse,” said Katherine Pope, Head of Spectrum Originals. “Michael has the intensity, humanity and humor that Joe Pickett demands, and we couldn’t have better partners in the incredible John Erick and Drew Dowdle, Paramount Television Studios and Red Wagon Entertainment to bring this world to life.”
“C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett novels truly have something for everyone—spellbinding storytelling, multifaceted characters, and of course the breathtaking setting of the Wyoming wilderness—and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Spectrum Originals, Red Wagon and John Erick and Drew Dowdle in bringing these characters to life,” said Paramount Television Studios President Nicole Clemens. “The Dowdles have a sharp instinct for the specificity of this rich world. Joe Pickett is a ‘still waters run deep’ character and so we feel unbelievably fortunate to have Michael Dorman, who brings amazing depth to this character.”
“We fell in love with C.J Box’s Joe Pickett novels because of their nuanced take on morality in a morally ambiguous world,” said creators, writers, directors, showrunners and executive producers John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle. “We became fascinated with Joe’s obsession with the ideas of truth, fairness, and the order of things, and perhaps even more fascinated with the trauma that made him that way. These days, there is so much to relate to in the Pickett family’s desire for a simpler life, and also in the notion that unresolved elements of our past tend to follow us wherever we go. Spending the last few years with the Pickett family has been one of the great joys of our careers, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring them to life on screen.”
Deadline further reported: This is the second TV series adaptation of Box’s work ordered over the past year. The other, David E. Kelley’s Big Sky, based on Box’s Cassie Dewell novels, has been a breakout hit for ABC.
Michael Dorman is a New Zealand-born actor and musician whose credits include the Universal feature film The Invisible Man, starring opposite Elisabeth Moss; Apple’s For All Mankind; and the critically acclaimed Steve Conrad comedy-drama Patriot, released by Amazon.
The latest book in Box’s Joe Pickett series, DARK SKY, published by Putnam on March 2, was an instant New York Times bestseller.