Blumhouse Television and Comet Pictures - Jamie Lee Curtis’ production company, who Blumhouse has a first-look deal with for film and television - have secured the highly-pursued rights to Patricia Cornwell’s “Kay Scarpetta'' crime thrillers. The companies are developing an ongoing, one-hour scripted drama series around Scarpetta, the fictional, brilliant and beautiful, forensic pathologist, who is the protagonist in the popular series of Cornwell’s crime novels.
“Patricia Cornwell is a bonafide literary trailblazer, and collaborating with her to bring her beloved character Kay Scarpetta to life through the power of television and to introduce her to an entirely new audience is exciting,” said executive producer Jamie Lee Curtis. “The confluence of Blumhouse and Comet bringing to life a dark, fun and layered work world and family life, spearheaded by the smart and sexy indomitable Kay Scarpetta is going to be a thrilling ride.”
“We are so honored to be partnering with one of the most successful authors in history in Patricia Cornwell," said Chris McCumber, Blumhouse Television president. "Kay Scarpetta has been a much sought-after character, for a long time, and we are excited to finally bring her to life on television. We are also grateful to Jamie Lee Curtis for connecting the Blumhouse team to Patricia, and to Patricia for trusting us with her iconic creation.”
Patricia Cornwell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jason Blum, Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold will serve as executive producers. The series is a Blumhouse Television production.
Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the world’s top best selling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries, with sales that surpass over 120 million books. The most famous and widely read of Cornwell’s works are the “Kay Scarpetta” thrillers, with her newest and 25th book in the series Autopsy, set to release in fall 2021. The upcoming, anticipated literary release is already garnering raves.
Cornwell has authored 29 New York Times bestsellers. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the Creasey, the Macavity, the Gold Dagger, Prix du Roman d’Aventure and the British Book award for Crime Thriller of the Year. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Patricia has written a definitive non-fiction account about Jack the Ripper, a biography, and 3 more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the worlds that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.
About Blumhouse:
Blumhouse is known for pioneering a new model of studio filmmaking: producing high-quality micro-budget films and provocative television series. Regarded as the driving force in the horror renaissance, Blumhouse has produced over 150 movies and television series with theatrical grosses amounting to over $4.8 billion. The company has produced iconic, genre, film franchises like Halloween, Paranormal Activity, The Purge, and prolific films like Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man; Glass, The Visit and Split from M. NIght Shyamalan; Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman; Get Out from Jordan Peele; among several others. Blum’s television company operates in horror programming - with streaming anthology series like Welcome to the Blumhouse for Amazon and a slate of horror/thriller films for Epix - and has also expanded beyond genre with provocative and acclaimed scripted and unscripted series and documentaries, such as The Good Lord Bird, starring Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke, for Showtime; The Loudest Voice, starring Golden Globe winner Russell Crowe for Showtime; A Wilderness of Error (FX); The Jinx for HBO; A Secret Love, from executive producer Ryan Murphy, for Netflix; and lauded HBO series Sharp Objects, starring Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson, among others.
About Comet Pictures
Founded by Jamie Lee Curtis in 2019, Comet Pictures is a film, television and podcast production company that has an overall deal with Blumhouse. Comet has several projects in the works including: Mother Nature, an eco-horror film that Curtis will direct and co-wrote with Russell Goldman, who also serves as director of development for the company; and a pilot based on her best-selling Audible podcast Letters From Camp written by Boco Haft, which returns for a second season later this month. Curtis is also the founder and CEO of the website MY HAND IN YOURS, which is a charitable organization that offers comfort and celebration items with 100% of every sale being donated directly to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, an organization Curtis has been associated with for a very long time.