Buccaneer, Halcyon Studios join forces to adapt CJ Tudor novel The Drift for TV

London-based prodco Buccaneer is teaming up with California-based Halcyon Studios to adapt British author CJ Tudor’s forthcoming novel The Drift for television.

CJ Tudor

The companies said they won the rights to dramatise the novel in a competitive situation involving five other parties.

The book, which is set to be published in January via PRH imprints Penguin Michael Joseph in the UK and Ballantine in the US, follows three groups of frightened teens who find themselves thrown into the terrifying reality of a frozen post-apocalyptic world.

Buccaneer is behind series including Marcella (ITV/Netflix), Irvine Welsh’s Crime (Britbox/ITVX), The Burning Girls and The Doll Factory (both for Paramount+). Led by joint CEOs Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart, the company is a partnership with Canada’s Cineflix Media.

Halcyon Studios, which is owned by publicly traded US company Chicken Soup For the Soul Entertainment Company, produces series including Hunters (Amazon Prime Video) and The Mysterious Benedict Society (Disney+).

The new project expands Buccaneer’s relationship with Tudor, whose fourth thriller novel The Burning Girls is being adapted by the UK prodco. The adaptation is currently in production and stars Samantha Morton and Ruby Stokes.

Buccaneer and Halcyon Studios acquired the TV rights to The Drift from Hannah Ladds at Madeleine Milburn.

“It’s great to be working on another of CJ’s books and bring it to the screen,” said Tulk-Hart.

“Partnering with Halcyon Studios is incredibly exciting and something we’ve looked to do for some time. The scale of this project finally brought us together.”

Halcyon Studios CEO David Ellender added: “The Drift is a masterful squall of suspense and we’re thrilled to transforming CJ’s novel into a riveting series alongside Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart.”