Posted in: Amazon Studios, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: amazon, criminal, ed brubaker, prime video, sean phillips
Criminal: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck Directing Prime Video Series Adapt
Prime Video has reportedly tapped writer-directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck to direct the first four episodes of its adaptation of Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips' graphic novel series Criminal.
Not long after the start of the new year, fans of Ed Brubaker (Westworld, Batman: Caped Crusader) and Sean Phillips' Criminal learned that Amazon's Prime Video was set to bring the multi-Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series to live-action life. Both Brubaker & Phillips are set to executive produce, with Brubaker penning the pilot script and serving as co-showrunner – alongside acclaimed crime fiction author Jordan Harper (Hightown, Gotham, The Mentalist). Now, Deadline Hollywood is reporting exclusively that writer-directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (Captain Marvel, Masters of the Air) have been tapped to direct the first four episodes and executive-produce.
Brubaker and Phillips are considered by many to be one of the most acclaimed teams in the history of comics, having spent over two decades creating such hits as Criminal, The Fade Out, Kill or Be Killed, Reckless, Pulp, and many others. In fact, the "grand masters of crime comics" have seen their best-selling library of graphic novels translated around the world in over a dozen languages – with Criminal as the best-selling, internationally-published graphic novel series.
Brubaker has left an impressive imprint during his time with the comics industry, penning key arcs for Marvel & DC Comics – including Batman, Catwoman, The Immortal Iron Fist, and Captain America, including creating the character of the Winter Soldier. Along with already impressive television work, Harper is the award-winning author of She Rides Shotgun (currently being adapted as a feature film with Taron Egerton attached) and Everybody Knows (named as a "Best Crime Novel of the Year" by The New York Times for 2023).
"'Criminal" is a beloved graphic novel created by the most iconic team in the history of comics," shared Nick Pepper, head of U.S. SVOD wholly-owned development, Amazon MGM Studios. "I know our global Prime Video customers will immediately embrace this story, and I look forward to working with Ed, Jordan, and the team to bring it to the screen." Prime Video's Criminal is executive produced by Brubaker and Harper, alongside Phillips, Sarah Carbiener, and Phillip Barnett. Legendary Television will also serve as an executive producer, with Amazon MGM Studios producing the series.