Joel and Ethan Coen have signed up to adapt Black Money, the best known of the acclaimed series of Lew Archer novels written by hardboiled crime writer Ross Macdonald.
According to Deadline, the Coens have agreed to write a script for the film with a view to taking on directing duties, for a project backed by Warner Bros and produced by Joel Silver. Silver’s production company, Silver Pictures, previously worked with the Coens on their 1994 film The Hudsucker Proxy, though Silver is not credited as a producer on that film.
Black Money was published in 1966, the 13th in Macdonald’s Archer series, which began in 1949 with The Moving Target. Black Money sees private detective Archer called in by a client whose girlfriend has gone off with a mysterious European she met at the tennis club. Two Archer novels have been previously filmed, though with a slight tweak to the central character’s name: Harper, starring Paul Newman, was based on The Moving Target and released in 1966, while Newman reprised the role in 1975 in The Drowning Pool.
The Coens’ most recent film, Hail Caesar!, is set in 50s Hollywood and stars George Clooney, Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson. It is due for release in February 2016 after a possible awards run.
