John le Carré’s best-selling novel The Constant Gardener is to be adapted once again, this time as a limited series set in the modern day in a “post-pandemic context” according to Deadline. The series will be developed by Lydia Adetunji (His Dark Materials) with The Ink Factory producing.
The Constant Gardener will follow “Justin Quayle, a British diplomat and avid horticulturalist who meets an Amnesty International activist in London called Tessa. After striking up a romance, they head on a journey that weaves together a brutal murder, government corruption and corporate malfeasance in a plot which unravels across Kenya, the UK and mainland Europe.”
Carré’s novel, which was published in 2001, was first adapted in 2005 by director Fernando Meirelles and starred Ralph Fiennes (The Menu) as Justin Quayle and Rachel Weisz (Dead Ringers) as Tessa Quayle. The Constant Gardener is considered to be one of Carré’s best works in his long career and the adaptation proved quite successful, earning the film several nominations in various award ceremonies including a win for Best Supporting Actress for Weisz at the 78th Academy Awards.
“It’s thrilling to be reinterpreting The Constant Gardener in a contemporary, post-pandemic context, and to be rooting the story in an authentic, modern Kenya with all of its richness, politics and energy,” said Ink Factory CEOs Simon and Stephen Cornwell. “Lydia’s bold, exciting but also lyrical approach to the adaptation tells a story that keeps the audience on the edge of its seat – intensely relevant in the modern world, and simply beautiful.”
This will not be the first time Ink Factory will have adapted a Carré novel as they produced the first season of The Night Manager and are in the midst of developing a second season while also developing a limited series adaptation of Carré’s A Most Wanted Man.
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