The secret’s out about NBC’s latest spy-thriller adaptation.
The TV network is in the process of developing David Ignatius’ 2017 espionage thriller The Quantum Spy as a TV show, according to Deadline. David Kalstein, currently an executive producer of the USA show Treadstone—set in the world of Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne spy novels—will adapt and executive-produce the new series. No casting news has yet been announced.
In the novel, Chinese-American CIA agent Harris Chang steals the diary of a Chinese computer scientist, which features key information about deals made by officials in his government. Things become more complicated, however, when the scientist commits suicide. Meanwhile, both governments are after powerful quantum-computing tech that could break the toughest data-encryption in the world. “While the science gets geeky in spots, it’s still fun—and the complex intrigue will please thriller fans,” wrote Kirkus’ reviewer in a positive 2017 review.
Ignatius, a journalist and columnist for the Washington Post, has written several spy novels since his fiction debut, 1987’s Agents of Innocence—another CIA tale, which received a starred Kirkus review. His 2007 CIA thriller Body of Lies was adapted as a 2008 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott.
Interestingly, another executive producer for the new TV series will be David Boies, who’s best known for his work as an attorney in the landmark 2000 Bush v. Gore case on behalf of then-Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore; he also represented the plaintiffs in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which resulted in the 2013 legalization of same-sex marriage in California.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
