The Destroyer to Get Live-Action Series From Sony and Better Call Saul Writer

The Destroyer, the best-selling book franchise that introduced the world to the character of Remo Williams, is set to be adapted to television from Better Call Saul writer and producer Gordon Smith. Smith is set to adapt the series for Sony Television Studios, the studio behind Saul. smith earned two Emmy nominations for Better Call Saul scripts he wrote in 2015 and 2016, and he shared in a pair of Writers Guild nominations for the show in 2016 and 2017. The pitch comes as part of an overall deal Smith inked with Sony Television Studios in 2017.

Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir first created the character of Remo Williams in 1971. The Destroyer book series centers on US government agent Remo Williams, a former police officer framed for a crime he didn’t commit and sentenced to death. Instead, the government fakes his death and puts him to work as an assassin for a secret government agency called CURE. 

In addition to the original book series, Remo Williams starred in a series of large-format comic magazines from Marvel. In 1985, Tremors star Fred Ward starred as the character in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, which had a lukewarm reception at the time but went on to become a cult classic. The film also starred future Star Trek captain Kate Mulgrew. Shane Black was briefly attached to a planned reboot of the series, but nothing ever came to pass with that.

During its heyday, The Destroyer book series sold over 50 million copies worldwide, with over 150 books published in 40 languages. While the Remo Williams movie did not lead to a franchise, the plan for the TV show is to build a layered universe for the character that can dig into the deep library of content to bring characters and concepts from throughout the series into the show, while retaining the comedic undertones that made both the books and the movie a fan favorite.

Remo Williams joins other characters like Jack Ryan, Jack Reacher, and Alex Cross, all of whom have shows either currently on the air or coming soon at Prime Video. Irwin Maurice “Fletch” Fletcher, another character who toplined a series of best-selling novels, had a movie come out earlier this year from Paramount. No word yet on where The Destroyer will end up.

Prime Universe Films’ Adrian Askarieh will executive produce, per TheWrap, who first reported the project.