"Mission Impossible" director and Oscar winner Christopher McQuarrie has boarded the project to develop the novel "The President is Missing" into a TV series. McQuarrie will serve as the executive producer, alongside Anthony Peckham, for the show that will be airing on Showtime.
"The President is Missing" is a novel written and published by former president Bill Clinton. It's his collaboration with best-selling mystery author James Patterson. According to Deadline, the two VIPs will also be helping in the development of the project with Peckham writing the main adaptation.
The premise follows about a Vice President, Jonathan Duncan, who suddenly assumes the presidency with some hesitation. As the top guy on the land, he learns a lot of secrets, including those that might cause a worldwide crisis. With attacks and criticisms coming from all sides of the political fence, the president has to make difficult decisions that could affect his loyalties or his conscience.
Released in 2018, "The President is Missing" topped the New York Best Sellers list on June 24. It sold over 250,000 copies during its first week and sold over one million copies in North America by August.
A year before "The President is Missing" hit store shelves, Showtime won the rights to adapt the book into a television series. In 2017, the premium cable network offered a straight-to-series order for the political drama, which also had Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams and George Clooney interested in developing the story into a screenplay.
Showtime, through its parent company CBS Corp., apparently fought hard to get the rights given the interest it generated. Thankfully, Patterson had a good relationship with CBS since the network has also developed his other novels into TV shows before.
Clinton told The Charlotte Observer that his friend and lawyer Bob Barnett convinced him to write a book with Patterson. The two met to discuss what fiction they would tackle and Patterson brought up the idea that he wanted to tell a thriller about a president gone missing.
Clinton used his experience as the former leader of the free world in lending a factual interpretation of the stories. On the other hand, Patterson, who has written some best-sellers himself, used his craft and creativity to make the story in "The President is Missing" connect with readers.
Meanwhile, Showtime has not yet given "The President is Missing" a slot in its schedule. Since its still in its pre-production phase, the show might not arrive on the cable network until 2020.
