Hulu Develops Series Adaptation of 'The Kid Detective'

Hulu is developing a series version of the 2020 film "The Kid Detective," Variety has learned exclusively.

Evan Morgan, who wrote and directed the film, will serve as an executive producer on the adaptation. Alex Berger is set to write and executive produce. Rachel Kaplan of Abescon Entertainment also joins as an executive producer, while Jonathan Bronfman and Will Woods — producers on the original film — will produce the series. Adam Brody, who starred in the movie, is not attached at this time.

The series logline reads: "When a missing persons case reopens the childhood murder he never solved, a washed-up former kid detective gets one last shot at proving his best days aren't behind him."

Brody played the titular detective, Abe Applebaum, in the film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020. Critics received the film warmly upon release. In his review for Variety, Tomris Laffly wrote: "Splendidly summoning film noir-esque vibes, classically ghastly bad guys and femme fatale types out of a whimsical small town full of grotesque mysteries, this bold and often surprisingly humorous film…grapples with themes related to murder and abuse, as well as the existential dread of its central recluse, who fell grossly short of the promising life he thought he was meant to have in his younger days."

Berger brings substantial television experience to the project. He most recently worked on "CIA" at CBS, with additional credits including "The Perfect Couple" at Netflix and "Quantum Leap" for NBC. His earlier work spans "Blindspot," "The Mentalist," "Franklin & Bash" and "Glenn Martin DDS."

Kaplan previously led scripted television at Keshet Studios before launching Abescon in 2020. Under that banner, she has executive produced "La Brea" at NBC and maintains projects in active development across a range of streamers and networks. During her tenure at Keshet, she shepherded "The Baker and the Beauty," "Lincoln Rhyme: The Hunt for the Bone Collector" and "Wisdom of the Crowd."

Berger is represented by UTA, A.B. Fischer and Yorn Levine. Morgan is represented by Range and Verve.

The adaptation extends a growing pattern of streamers mining well-received indie features for serialized material, and the project's noir-inflected premise — a failed child prodigy confronting an unsolved murder — gives the series a built-in narrative engine that the film's premise only began to explore.