Incendo & BlackBox Multimedia Team for Modern Ellery Queen

Incendo and BlackBox Multimedia have optioned the TV rights to the Ellery Queen novels and short stories, with plans to co-produce a series.

The collection, written by Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee under the pseudonym Ellery Queen, follows the eponymous detective as he is pulled into intricate plots that allow the reader to discover clues and hints hidden throughout the stories. The TV series will take place in a contemporary world and feature a reimagined female lead.

Jabberwocky Literary Agency represents the Estate of Ellery Queen.

Giuliano Papadia, CEO and creative director at BlackBox Multimedia, said, “Ellery Queen is one of the most definitive series of detective fiction to ever be written. The stories have been global favorites for a huge part of the 20th and 21st centuries. They have fascinating plots, unique characters and settings you love to get lost in. The team at Incendo are the perfect partners for helping modernize this excellent and timeless series of stories.”

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to develop a new series based off an already-established, globally successful IP,” added Gavin Reardon, international sales and co-production executive at Incendo. “In collaborating with the creative minds at BlackBox Multimedia, we are eager to discover the reimagined version of the novels come to life on screens around the world.”

Richard Dannay and Rand B. Lee of Jabberwocky Literary Agency said, “When our fathers first sat down to begin the collaboration that would become Ellery Queen, they never would have dreamed that they would then embark on a 40-year journey together or imagined the remarkable success that Ellery Queen would attain. All of us in the Lee and Dannay families are thrilled to be working with BlackBox Multimedia and Incendo, which have both been so respectful and admiring of the rich Ellery Queen tradition, in crafting a new chapter on the screen for our shared legacy.”