TNT, a division of Turner, has ordered a pilot for Let the Right One In, based on the best-selling novel by Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist. Jeff Davis (Criminal Minds, Teen Wolf) wrote the script for the TV pilot and serves as executive producer with Marty Adelstein (Aquarius, Prison Break, Teen Wolf) and Becky Clements (Aquarius, Last Man Standing) of Tomorrow Studios and Simon Oakes (Women in Black, Let Me In) of Hammer Films. Carl Molinder, who produced the original screenplay, and Alex Brunner (Dark Places) also serve as executive producers. The pilot is being produced by Tomorrow Studios in association with Turner’s Studio T, the in-house studio that owns and produces original series for TNT and TBS.
Let the Right One In is an eerie drama about a young boy, long tormented by his classmates, who finds solace in a friendship with a charismatic female vampire who appears to be near his age. The vampire settles into the boy’s small Vermont town with her mysterious caretaker, just as a series of bizarre murders begins attracting the attention of law enforcement. We first reported on this TV adaptation last March, when it was in development at A&E, which beat out Showtime in a bidding war for the series.
Lindqvist’s debut novel was an instant bestseller in Sweden. He adapted his book into a screenplay for the acclaimed 2008 Swedish film of the same name, earning numerous international awards. The remake Let Me In starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz hit theaters in 2010. TNT’s pilot will draw from the original source material. Here’s what Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT, had to say in her statement.
“Let the Right One In combines elements of horror, revenge thriller and adolescent romance into an unforgettable and truly unsettling tale. This novel is a watershed of rich storytelling, making it an abundant source from which Jeff, Marty, Becky and Simon will bring to life in this all-new adaptation.”
TNT is in the midst of evolving its original programming slate, which kicked off in June with the premiere of the critically acclaimed hit Animal Kingdom, one of cable’s Top 3 new summer dramas and the only summer drama to grow its audience week over week. On Nov. 15, TNT will launch the seductive thriller Good Behavior (also produced by Tomorrow Studios’ Adelstein and Clements), with Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery as a complicated woman trying to regain her life. The network’s 2017 slate of dramas include The Alienist, based on Caleb Carr’s New York Times bestseller about a serial killer in New York during the Gilded Age; Will, the punk rock version of William Shakespeare‘s young life; Foreign Bodies, a comedic drama featuring a group of young adults traveling across Asia; and more. Here’s what Marty Adelstein, CEO of Tomorrow Studios, had to say in his statement.
“TNT has amassed an incredible slate of programming and we are thrilled to extend our relationship with them. Their collaboration and shared enthusiasm for bringing Let the Right One In to the U.S. TV audience is incredibly exciting to all of us.”
Let the Right One In joins three other pilots in the works at TNT. Monsters of God is a post-Civil War drama from Rod Lurie and Plan B Entertainment. Civil, starring Bradley Whitford, Toby Jones and Enrique Murciano is a gripping drama about America on the brink of a modern day Civil War. Claws, starring Niecy Nash, Harold Perrineau and Jenn Lyon in a wickedly funny dramedy set in a Florida nail salon.