A Whitey Bulger TV series is in the works
The show will be based on an upcoming book by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge.
Less than a year after he was killed in a West Virginia prison at the age of 89, a new series about notorious mobster James “Whitey” Bulger is in the works.
Authors Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge are teaming up with production company Double Nickel Entertainment (“Gran Torino”) and Sky Studios to turn their upcoming book, “Hunting Whitey,” into a series.
Sherman and Wedge, the co-writers of the book that became the 2016 film “Patriots Day,” will also help to produce the film through Fort Point Media, their production company.
Wedge said that unlike other works based on the mobster’s life, “Hunting Whitey” — which is slated to hit bookstores in May 2020 — isn’t concerned with Bulger’s early days as a crime kingpin. Instead, the book and series will begin with Bulger’s first day as a fugitive, on the run from authorities with longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig, and will end with his final day in prison.
“It’s the story of his life on the run, and his life in prison, and his murder,” Wedge said. “This isn’t ‘Black Mass’ or ‘The Departed.'”
Wedge added that the series will show “not only what a monster Bulger really was, but also show people the heroic side of the people who dedicated their lives to tracking him down.”
Aside from their “Hunting Whitey” adaptation, Sherman and Wedge have a few other titles currently in development. Those include “Thacher Island,” a film with 20th Century Fox based on Sherman’s book about notorious mobster Joseph “The Animal” Barboza, and a project with Netflix based on “The Ice Bucket Challenge,” the duo’s 2017 book about Pete Frates.
