AMC, BBC, Ink Factory follow Drummer Girl

AMC, the BBC and Ink Factory collaborated on The Night Manager

The UK’s BBC1, AMC in the US and the prodco behind The Night Manager have unveiled their next project, a miniseries based on another John le Carré novel.

The Little Drummer Girl will be directed by filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Old Boy), marking his TV debut, and will be sold globally by Endeavor Content/IMG.

The six-part thriller is being financed and produced by The Ink Factory in partnership with 127 Wall and coproducers the BBC and AMC.

The story is set in the late 1970s and “weaves a dynamic and exciting story of espionage and international intrigue” against the background of rising tensions in the Middle East.

Laura Hastings-Smith (Howards End) is attached as producer with Simon and Stephen Cornwell serving as executive producers alongside le Carré, Mona Qureshi for the BBC, Joe Tsai and Arthur Wang for 127 Wall, and Wonjo Jeong.

The show has been commissioned by Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content, and Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, along with Kristin Jones, senior VP of international programming for AMC and Sundance TV, and David Madden, president of programming at AMC, Sundance TV and AMC Studios.

Chan-wook said the core of the story “is an extremely painful but thrilling romance. This is what makes the story universal, reaching beyond borders and languages and remaining incredibly current.”

He added: “To adapt such a great work without losing its integrity, it needs the time and depth of a television series, and I am excited at the prospect of seeing how the drumbeats of Florence Pugh, the most energetic young female actor I have seen recently, will resonate with the audience.”

Simon and Stephen Cornwell, co-CEOs and founders of The Ink Factory, added: “It is exhilarating to see one of le Carré’s greatest novels take shape for the screen in the hands of such a brilliantly talented team. Park Chan-wook is a master filmmaker at the height of his powers.”

Earlier this year, US cablenet AMC revealed it was partnering with the BBC and The Ink Factory in adapting le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold for TV, following their success with The Night Manager.

The series, which has been in the works since last summer, is based on the 1963 hit novel, which was made into a movie starring Richard Burton in 1965.

AMC, the BBC and Ink Factory scored a triple at the Golden Globes for The Night Manager, their 2016 small-screen version of another le Carré book, with stars Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman all picking up acting awards.