EXCLUSIVE: An adaptation of Kirk Wallace Johnson’s bestselling The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century is in the works for the small screen. Jenna Bush Hager and Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, have teamed with Johnson to develop a series adaptation of the true-crime non-fiction book. Optioned in a highly competitive situation, The Feather Thief marks Hager’s first project in development under her first-look deal at Universal Studio Group. Johnson will pen the series adaptation.
Per the synopsis,The Feather Thief is a gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man’s relentless pursuit of justice. One summer evening in 2009, twenty-year-old musical prodigy Edwin Rist broke into the British Natural History Museum, home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world. Once inside, Rist grabbed as many rare bird specimens as he was able to carry before escaping into the darkness. Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist-deep in a river in New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide first told him about the heist. But what would possess a person to steal dead birds? And had Rist paid for his crime? In search of answers, Johnson embarked upon a worldwide investigation, leading him into the fiercely secretive underground community obsessed with the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying.
The Feather Thief was an Amazon Best Book of 2018 and short-listed for The Gold Dagger Award, Edgar Award, Carnegie Medal and translated into a dozen languages.
“The Feather Thief has been a favorite book of mine since its release in 2018,” said Bush Hager. “Kirk Wallace Johnson is a talented storyteller, and to work with him to adapt this wildly brilliant book for the screen is a dream.”
“This book – like the birds, rogues, and adventurers at the heart of it – has had an astonishing life, and, thanks to exuberant readers, continues to find a wide audience,” said Johnson. “I’m honored for the opportunity to helm the adaptation with such a great team – their passion for this project was so overwhelming that it made me feel as though I was discovering the story for the first time.”
“This why-dunnit thriller is a must-read and will make an absolute must-watch,” said Beatrice Springborn, President, Universal International Studios. “It tackles people’s desire to control and own nature, the price of obsession and dives into the mind of a teenage flute prodigy who pulled off a massive heist of rare bird feathers and skins. It is a wholly unique experience that, with Kirk adapting, we know will unfold in all its wild, colorful and incredible splendor.”
Bush Hager is co-host of Today with Hoda & Jenna, the fourth hour of NBC’s morning program, and founder of Today‘s book club #ReadWithJenna. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host in 2020 and a Gracie Award for best on-air talent in 2021. She is a New York Times bestseller and author of six books. Hager and her company are repped by UTA.
Johnson has written for the New Yorker and contributes to This American Life. He wrote the 2013 memoir To Be a Friend is Fatal: The Fight to Save the Iraqis America Left Behind. His forthcoming book, The Fishermen and the Dragon: Fear, Greed, and a Fight for Justice on the Gulf Coast, is also being adapted into a limited series and will be published by Viking on August 9. He is repped by CAA.
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