Marc Forster Adapting Jamie Scallion Thriller Nines for TV With Fremantle

World War Z and Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster is moving into high-end television with an adaptation of Jamie Scallion’s upcoming revenge thriller Nines. Deadline reported the exclusive on Oct. 8, and Fremantle confirmed on Oct. 9 that it will distribute the series globally.

Forster and Renée Wolfe’s indie banner 2DUX² teamed with BAFTA-winning Me+You Productions — run by Krishnendu Majumdar and Richard Yee, the team behind Channel 4’s I Am… anthology — to win screen rights after what the producers called a fiercely competitive auction, both outlets said. Fremantle, which has a first-look deal with Me+You, is selling the show worldwide. Publisher Transworld has already acquired world English-language rights to the novel and its sequel, set for 2028 and 2029.

The title character is an orphan, pianist, father, widower and killer serving a life sentence in Britain’s most secure jail for killing one of the men who murdered his wife. He wants the rest of them — and the son they took from him. In prison, mentor Suranga, described as a master forger and zen master, molds him into the machine that will finish the job, then helps him break out into a world that has changed while he was inside, according to Fremantle’s synopsis.

Forster will direct the opening block of episodes and remain closely involved throughout the series, helping shape its visual language and creative tone, Deadline and Fremantle both reported. The filmmaker’s big-screen credits include the $540 million-grossing World War Z, James Bond’s Quantum of Solace, Finding Neverland and A Man Called Otto. His prior TV work includes directing two episodes and executive producing Prime Video’s Hand of God.

Majumdar and Yee called Nines a “propulsive, funny and unexpectedly moving thriller” and said having Forster direct is “a real coup,” adding that the character has “every chance of becoming an iconic anti-hero for the screen.” Forster and Wolfe said they want Season 1 to “feel like an event — and the beginning of something much larger,” balancing emotional characters with action that deepens the story.

Scallion, a former Officer Kicks frontman who previously collaborated with The Script on a YA series and co-wrote The Last Song on Earth with Dave Berry in 2025, will executive produce alongside Forster, Wolfe, Majumdar and Yee. The literary deal was negotiated for Scallion by Eugenie Furniss at 42, with Fremantle’s Raffaella De Angelis, head of literary acquisitions for global drama, spearheading the Me+You side. Casting and writer conversations are underway, Deadline said.

No network, streamer, episode order or release window has been announced. For now, the package is a studio-level development play: a feature director making a rare series commitment, a British indie with BAFTA pedigree, a major distributor attached, and a debut thriller already locked in a multi-book publishing deal. More Hollywood development coverage is on our Studio page.

Verification: Auction win, Forster directing the first block, Transworld book rights, Me+You/2DUX² partnership and casting/writer status are from Deadline (Max Goldbart & Stewart Clarke, Oct. 8). Global distribution confirmation, World War Z gross figure, full synopsis language and producer quotes are from Fremantle (Oct. 9).