The bestselling tale of an Australian fugitive will soon be escaping to TV screens.
Apple has greenlighted a 10-episode TV series adaptation of Gregory David Roberts’ 2004 crime drama, Shantaram, starring Sons of Anarchy’s Charlie Hunnam, according to Deadline. Last year, production companies Anonymous Content and Paramount Television bought the rights to the novel and its 2015 sequel, The Mountain Shadow, for an undisclosed amount.
The novel tells the story of Lin, an escaped Australian prisoner and former heroin addict who flees to Mumbai, India, “where, hiding in the slums, he finds himself becoming at once increasingly Christlike and increasingly drawn into the criminal demimonde,” according to Kirkus’ starred review, which called it “an elegantly written, page-turning blockbuster.” The book, while fictional, draws on some elements of Australian ex-convict Roberts’ life.
This is just the latest book-to-screen adaptation heading to the Apple TV+ streaming service, which is due to launch Nov. 1. The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that Apple had ordered limited-series adaptations of Stephen King’s 2006 novel Lisey’s Story and Min Jin Lee’s 2017 National Book Award finalist, Pachinko—both of which also received Kirkus stars.
Hunnam has appeared in several other adaptations over the years. His first major film role was in 2002’s Nicholas Nickleby, based on the Charles Dickens novel; he later starred in the 2017 movie remake Papillon, from Henri Charrière’s memoirs Papillon (1970) and Banco (1973), which also features a prison-escapee protagonist. He also appears in a secondary role in the 2019 film The True History of the Kelly Gang, based on Peter Carey’s 2001 novel about 19th-century criminal Ned Kelly—another Australian outlaw. The latter is set for an American release next year, according to a recent Hollywood Reporter story.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
