Quentin Tarantino to direct episode of Elmore Leonard adaptation in Chicago

Tarantino and Leonard
Quentin Tarantino, left; late crime novelist Elmore Leonard Photo credit Getty Images

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Quentin Tarantino is apparently returning to the literary well of Elmore Leonard, whose novel Rum Punch became Tarantino’s much-lauded 1997 crime caper Jackie Brown.

This time around, reports say, the master of mashup cinema is directing an episode of a TV adaptation of Leonard’s 1980 crime novel, City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, with Chicago doubling as the Motor City.

City Primeval is about an escalating grudge match between a violent criminal and a Detroit detective, but the reports suggest the source material is being repurposed to revive another Leonard-inspired property, Justified. That series — featuring a tough-as-nails Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and set in Kentucky — ran for six seasons on FX.

Tarantino and actor Olyphant
Quentin Tarantino (L) and Timothy Olyphant pose at the after party for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood" at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on July 22, 2019 in Hollywood, California. Photo credit (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

“This story in Quentin’s hands will be really special,” a Chicago film industry insider told the Chicago Sun-Times about the new project. “Everyone’s waiting to see who is cast as the villain because Quentin can draw anyone. So you might see a big name that you’d normally associate with only movies cross over do this show with him.”

Filming for the series was expected to start here next month through August, the paper reported.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Getty Images