‘Little Drummer Girl’ Set as Latest John le Carré Adaptation for AMC

Florence Pugh will star in the six-part miniseries, which follows the Emmy-winning ‘Night Manager’ at the cable network.  

After taking home the Emmy for The Night Manager, AMC has green-lighted its next John le Carre miniseries: The Little Drummer Girl. Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth) will star in the six-parter based on le Carre’s best-seller. Park Chan-wook (Old Boy) will make his small-screen debut and direct the series, which is a co-production between the Ink Factory, BBC One and AMC. Production will begin in January, with Endeavor Content/IMG selling global rights to the series.
Set in the late 1970s, Drummer Girl is an espionage and international intrigue drama of love and betrayal. Set against the background of rising tensions in the Middle East, the mini revolves around Charlie (Pugh), a young actress who prepares for her ultimate role in the “theater of the real.”

Laura Hastings-Smith (Macbeth) produces with Simon and Stephen Cornwell serving as executive producers alongside le Carre, Mona Qureshi for the BBC, Joe Tsai and Arthur Wang for 127 Wall, and Wonjo Jeong. BBC Content director Charlotte Moore and BBC Drama controller Piers Wenger commissioned the series alongside AMC senior vp international Kristin Jones and the cabler’s new programming president David Madden.

“After the tremendous reception by U.S. audiences to The Night Manager, we are thrilled to be working again with the Ink Factory and the BBC on another brilliantly plotted and deeply emotional John le Carré thriller, The Little Drummer Girl,” Madden said. “I read the book when it was published in the 1980s, and it’s frightening and thought-provoking to recognize how relevant the story still is today. Florence Pugh is a gifted actress who will make a stunning Charlie, and Park is a filmmaker of extraordinary vision whose entry into the world of le Carré-style espionage should be irresistible.”

The Night Manager, starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman, scored 12 Emmy nominations in 2016 including best limited series. It took home wins for directing and music composition. A second season is in early development at BBC and AMC. Following Night Manager’s success, AMC and BBC reteamed for le Carre’s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold limited series with Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy attached. That mini remains in development.

The Little Drummer Girl was published in 1983 and adapted as a feature film in 1984 starring Diane Keaton as Charlie.

Park is repped by WME and Industry Entertainment; Pugh is with WME and Julian Belfrage Associates; le Carre is with Curtis Brown.

For AMC, The Little Drummer Girl joins a scripted slate that also includes Better Call Saul, Fear the Walking Dead, Humans, Into the Badlands, Loaded, Lodge 49, McMafia, Preacher, The Son, The Terror and The Walking Dead.