AMC, BBC reteam for “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold” series

PanARMENIAN.Net - Fresh off The Night Manager's Golden Globe wins earlier this month, AMC is ready to pull from the pages of John le Carre once again.

The cabler is reteaming with the BBC for a limited series adaptation of le Carre's 1963 novel The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, it was announced Saturday, Jan. 14 at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.

Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) has signed on to write the limited series. Ink Factory also is on board, and Paramount Television will handle international distribution. Character 7, which also executive produced The Night Manager, will again produce in association with The Ink Factory.

"I'm very excited by the project, and have great confidence in the team," le Carre said in a statement.

"John le Carre is one of the master storytellers of our time, and to have the opportunity once again to put his page to our screen is an absolute privilege," said Joel Stillerman, AMC and SundanceTV president of original programming and development. "Spy is a deep tale of intrigue in one of the most uncertain times in history. We're very much looking forward to continuing our great partnership with Ink Factory and BBC as well as Paramount Television."

Set in 1962, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold begins at the height of the Cold War and only months after the creation of the Berlin Wall. Alex Leamas is a hard-working, hard-drinking British intelligence officer whose East Berlin network is in tatters. His agents are either on the run or dead at the hands of ruthlessly efficient East German counter-intelligence officer Hands Dieter-Mundt. Leamas is called back to London where, to his surprise, he's offered a chance at revenge. But to obtain it, he may have to stay out in the cold a little longer.

The book remained on the best-seller list for 32 weeks upon its release. Paramount adapted it for the big screen in 1965, with Richard Burton in the lead role.

Spy is a major departure from le Carre's previous AMC project, The Night Manager, which marked the famed author's first post-Cold War novel. Written in 1993, The Night Manager debuted on BBC and AMC in early 2016 and earned major acclaim for both outlets. The six-part series earned an Emmy for best directing, three Golden Globe awards for stars Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Coleman, and is next up for a Producers Guild Award.

Le Carre's novels have been adapted for TV and film projects several times before, including the Oscar winner The Constant Gardener, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, A Most Wanted Man and Our Kind of Traitor, the latter two of which also were produced by The Ink Factory.

For AMC, the limited series joins other upcoming projects including The Son, The Terror, Lodge 49, Loaded and another mini, Night of the Gun, based on the memoir of longtime New York Times writer David Carr, the adaptation of which hails from Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk.