It’s Not Known Yet How Closely The Last Policeman Adaptation Will Follow the Books

According to a Deadline report, NBC has won a competitive round of bidding for the rights to a TV series adaptation of Ben H. Winters sci-fi mystery novel The Last Policeman. The network has given a pilot commitment to The Last Policeman adaptation, which Neal Moritz (Preacher, Total Recall) will be producing. Winters will be handling the scripting for the pilot, as well as executive producing on the series. The book was originally optioned right after it was released in 2012, by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who intended to adapt the book into a TV series.

What is The Last Policeman About?

The Last Policeman follows Hank Palace, a New Hampshire detective, as he works on solving cases. The catch? Earth is literally in its final years, with a catastrophe-level asteroid hurtling toward the planet, with no scrappy crew of oil-rig drillers in sight to save us. As the world around Palace descends into ever increasing chaos, with society preparing for / unraveling as the eventual impact draws closer and closer, he tries to keep focused on work, and keep some form of hope alive by closing cases and solving crimes.

Any Further Details on The Last Policeman Adaptation?

At this point, no details about possible casting, production or release dates are available. The book is the first in a trilogy of novels (followed by Countdown City and World of Trouble), but it’s not known yet whether the series will follow the same general arc for the books, or whether they’re using the first book as a launching point for the series, and are headed in a different direction.

The idea’s not bad, the book series has been well received, and the apocalypse is doing decent business right now in both TV and film. However, Fox launched a comedy series last year, You, Me and the Apocalypse, with a similar premise, and it was cancelled after a 10 episode first season, so there’s no guarantee this will go past the pilot stage. We’ll be keeping an eye on this one, though, especially as it goes into casting and production. I’m very curious to see who wins the role of Hank Palace.

Featured Image: Quirk Books