‘Vigilante’ Series Adaptation In The Works At Peacock From Patrick Macmanus & UCP
Published on Deadline.com
Patrick Macmanus, the man behind series including Peacock’s Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy and Dr. Death, has another true-crime story in the works.
Macmanus is adapting the Vigilante podcast as a scripted series for the NBCUniversal streamer.
Peacock has opened a writers room for the project, which comes from UCP, Macmanus’ Littleton Road Productions banner, Weimaraner Republic Pictures and Kast Media.
Based on the Kast Media podcast, the series follows Tim Miller, a famous search-and-rescuer in Dickinson, Texas, who’s helped track down hundreds of missing persons. After 38 years of searching, he’s now convinced that he’s finally solved his own daughter’s murder.
The story explores a father’s obsessive pursuit of justice for his missing daughter, highlighting the devastating impact of loss and raising questions about the boundaries between justice and vigilantism, per the logline.
The podcast, which launched in 2022, was hosted by journalist and private investigator Allie Conti, who explores the human cost of Miller’s obsession with his daughter’s murder — from the people he’s falsely accused in the past to the current girlfriend he’s put in the crosshairs of a convicted killer.
Macmanus will write and exec produce alongside Ashley Michel Hoban, who served as showrunner on the second season of Dr. Death, and Ahmadu Garba, a writer and producer on series such as Halo, Tales of the Walking Dead and Dr. Death.
Weimaraner Republic Pictures’ Matti Leshem and Lynn Harris will exec produce alongside Colin Thomson for Kast Media.
It is Macmanus’ latest project for the streamer, which launches his John Wayne Gacy series on October 16. Macmanus, who has a long-running overall deal with UCP, also was behind Hulu’s The Girl from Plainville and is producing Crush for Peacock. The latter, which is set in the world of tabloid talk shows, comes from creator Addison McQuigg and is being developed with Elizabeth Banks’ Brownstone and Elliot Page’s Pageboy Productions as well as UCP and Universal Television.
Macmanus is repped by UTA and Gameplan Media. Hoban is repped by WME, the Shuman Company and Johnson Shapiro Slewett. Garba is repped by CAA, Epicenter and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.