Temple St, Boat Rocker adapt Rockton books

Temple Street Productions in Canada has picked up the rights to adapt Canadian author Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton mystery novels for television.

The Rockton series is a modern-day crime fiction collection set in the far north of Canada.

The series, to be adapted by showrunner Julie Puckrin (Killjoys, X Company) will focus on the first in the collection, City of the Lost. It follows a homicide detective who moves to the town of Rockton, which, despite its peaceful demeanour, is in desperate need of a police detective.

David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, co-executive chairmen of Temple Street’s parent company Boat Rocker Media and co-presidents of Boat Rocker Studios, will exec produce the series alongside Puckrin and Kerry Appleyard, senior VP at Temple Street.

“In the Rockton novels we’ve found an arresting, timely investigative crime drama with a unique setting and formidable female lead that will resonate with audiences worldwide,” Appleyard said. “City of the Lost is exactly the type of provocative drama for which Temple Street is known.”

“I was immediately drawn to City of the Lost for its complex female lead and rich thematic territory,” Puckrin said. “The setting is uniquely Canadian, but the issues are universal – the idea that you can hide from everything except who you really are.”

Boat Rocker emerged after a restructure of Temple Street in 2016 and has since gone on to acquire several companies in Canada and elsewhere.