• [NEWS] David E. Kelly writing "Bonfire of the Vanities" series for Apple TV

    From Your Name@YourName@YourISP.com to rec.arts.tv on Sat Apr 4 14:00:06 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv



    'The Bonfire of the Vanities' series headed to Apple TV
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Maybe the third time is the charm. Writer/producer David E. Kelley
    is adapting Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities" novel into a
    series for Apple TV, with "The Batman" director Matt Reeves.

    David E. Kelley is still best known for "The Practice" and "Ally
    McBeal" shows, but he's also the writer of Apple TV's "Presumed
    Innocent" and "Margo's Got Money Troubles." Now according to
    Deadline, he's dramatizing Tom Wolfe's famous 1987 novel of greed
    and Wall Street money.

    Not to spoil the story, but as excellent as it is, Wolfe's novel
    feels as if it fades out rather than have a big finish, which has
    made it difficult to successfully adapt. It was filmed in 1990,
    with Tom Hanks starring and Brian DePalma directing from a
    screenplay by Michael Cristofer, but that was a flop.

    Amazon attempted to create a series from the novel in 2016, written
    by Chuck Lorre, but it never entered production.

    The story centers on Sherman McCoy, a bond trader for whom nothing
    ever goes wrong - until he takes a wrong turn and drives into the
    Bronx. The fact that one wrong turn unravels his life was later used
    in the AppleInsider forums as an example of how bad Apple Maps was
    at launch.

    It's not been revealed how many episodes Apple's "The Bonfire of the
    Vanities" will run for, but reportedly Kelley is writing them all.
    They are also all to be directed by Matt Reeves, best known for
    "The Batman."

    Apple has not commented on the news and there is no indication yet
    of when the series may start streaming.

    Coincidentally, though, David E. Kelley's first series for Apple was
    a dramatization of another 1987 novel, "Presumed Innocent" by Scott
    Turow. Despite that originally being a single-season retelling of
    the book, Apple subsequently commissioned a second run, based on an
    entirely unrelated novel by Jo Murray.



    <https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/04/03/the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-series-headed-to-apple-tv>





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  • From Pluted Pup@plutedpup@outlook.com to rec.arts.tv on Fri Apr 3 19:17:41 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    On 4/3/26 6:00 PM, Your Name wrote:


       'The Bonfire of the Vanities' series headed to Apple TV
       -------------------------------------------------------
       Maybe the third time is the charm. Writer/producer David E. Kelley
       is adapting Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities" novel into a
       series for Apple TV, with "The Batman" director Matt Reeves.

       David E. Kelley is still best known for "The Practice" and "Ally
       McBeal" shows, but he's also the writer of Apple TV's "Presumed
       Innocent" and "Margo's Got Money Troubles." Now according to
       Deadline, he's dramatizing Tom Wolfe's famous 1987 novel of greed
       and Wall Street money.

       Not to spoil the story, but as excellent as it is, Wolfe's novel
       feels as if it fades out rather than have a big finish, which has
       made it difficult to successfully adapt.


    It's a wordy damn novel, but I haven't read it since
    my reading skills improved.


    It was filmed in 1990,
       with Tom Hanks starring and Brian DePalma directing from a
       screenplay by Michael Cristofer, but that was a flop.

    In the racial novel the end of it was him being persecuted for a
    crime he didn't do and he really didn't defend himself.

    In the Tom Hanks movie he was vindicated in the end in court,
    for a happy ending. The Left hated this ending because
    of their dictum "no white victories".



       Amazon attempted to create a series from the novel in 2016, written
       by Chuck Lorre, but it never entered production.

       The story centers on Sherman McCoy, a bond trader for whom nothing
       ever goes wrong - until he takes a wrong turn and drives into the
       Bronx. The fact that one wrong turn unravels his life was later used
       in the AppleInsider forums as an example of how bad Apple Maps was
       at launch.

       It's not been revealed how many episodes Apple's "The Bonfire of the
       Vanities" will run for, but reportedly Kelley is writing them all.
       They are also all to be directed by Matt Reeves, best known for
       "The Batman."

       Apple has not commented on the news and there is no indication yet
       of when the series may start streaming.

       Coincidentally, though, David E. Kelley's first series for Apple was
       a dramatization of another 1987 novel, "Presumed Innocent" by Scott
       Turow. Despite that originally being a single-season retelling of
       the book, Apple subsequently commissioned a second run, based on an
       entirely unrelated novel by Jo Murray.


    <https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/04/03/the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-series-headed-to-apple-tv>




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  • From Adam H. Kerman@ahk@chinet.com to rec.arts.tv on Sat Apr 4 20:40:49 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:

    'The Bonfire of the Vanities' series headed to Apple TV
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Maybe the third time is the charm. Writer/producer David E. Kelley
    is adapting Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities" novel into a
    series for Apple TV, with "The Batman" director Matt Reeves.

    Why? The movie was one of the more expensive poorly done adaptation
    flops in movie history. Tom Wolfe novels are unadaptable in whole.
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  • From danny burstein@dannyb@panix.com to rec.arts.tv on Sat Apr 4 23:23:56 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    In <10qrt0h$v1qp$2@dont-email.me> "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> writes:

    Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:

    'The Bonfire of the Vanities' series headed to Apple TV
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Maybe the third time is the charm. Writer/producer David E. Kelley
    is adapting Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities" novel into a
    series for Apple TV, with "The Batman" director Matt Reeves.

    Why? The movie was one of the more expensive poorly done adaptation
    flops in movie history. Tom Wolfe novels are unadaptable in whole.

    the book worked a LOT better if you were a NY'er (or adjacent)
    and knew who the thinly veiled characters and events the book
    was referring to,....

    as to the movie? hopeless...
    --
    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    dannyb@panix.com
    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
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  • From Pluted Pup@plutedpup@outlook.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun Apr 5 12:53:56 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    On 4/4/26 1:40 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
    Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:

    'The Bonfire of the Vanities' series headed to Apple TV
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Maybe the third time is the charm. Writer/producer David E. Kelley
    is adapting Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities" novel into a
    series for Apple TV, with "The Batman" director Matt Reeves.

    Why? The movie was one of the more expensive poorly done adaptation
    flops in movie history. Tom Wolfe novels are unadaptable in whole.

    But Tom Wolfe non-fiction would make excellent
    slapstick comedy!

    Mau Mau / Bauhaus, etc.




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