EXCLUSIVE: John Boyega is set to headline and executive produce The Book Of Eli, a TV series prequel to the 2010 post-apocalyptic action film, which starred Denzel Washington in the title role, Deadline has learned. Boyega will play younger version of Washington’s Eli in the TV project, which hails from the movie’s writer, Gary Whitta, creator/writer/executive producer of the potential series, and its directors, the Hughes brothers, who executive produce. The film’s producer Alcon Entertainment is the studio on the TV project, which is about to be taken out to select premium buyers, I hear.
The neo-Western Book Of Eli movie takes place thirty years after a nuclear catastrophe caused an ecocide. It revolves around Eli (Washington), a nomad who fights his way across a ravaged, post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book that holds the secrets to humanity’s salvation.
Details about the TV series are sketchy but I hear it is set 30 years prior to the events in the film, which would put it around the time of the nuclear event or its immediate aftermath.
This marks one of the highest-profile star-driven, IP-based packages to hit the premium TV marketplace since the end of the Hollywood strikes. While there have been a handful of deals so far, buying has been slow out of the gate. It is expected to pick up in early 2024, with The Book Of Eli an example of the caliber of auspices and premise a TV package needs to stand out.
The Book Of Eli 2010 movie, distributed by Warner Bros. which is not involved in the TV prequel, was a box-office success, earning $157.1 million in the worldwide box office on an $80 million budget.
deadline.com
