Sony's 3000 Pictures has hired Justin Kuritzkes (Challengers) to adapt City on Fire, the first of a bestselling novel trilogy by Don Winslow that is being developed as a star vehicle for Austin Butler. Deadline reported that Butler is producing along with David Heyman of Heyday Films and Shane Salerno of The Story Factory. 3000's Elizabeth Gabler and Marisa Paiva are overseeing the City on Fire project for the studio, and Drew Reed was instrumental in tracking the book series.
Winslow's trilogy, which also includes City of Dreams and City in Ruins, "is a modern retelling of the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid and Greek tragic dramas set in the world of contemporary crime," Deadline wrote. "Kuritzkes will start at the beginning, a struggle between two criminal empires--one Irish, the other Italian--that control all of New England, until a modern-day Helen of Troy tears them apart and starts a brutal war. Butler will play the main character, Danny Ryan, who is forced to grow from a street soldier into a ruthlessly efficient leader to protect his friends, his family and the home he loves. Fighting the Mafia, the local cops, the feds--everyone--Danny is determined to build a dynasty or will die trying."