CBS is reportedly close to purchasing the television rights to fired FBI director James Comey’s autobiography, “A Higher Loyalty, Truth, Lies, and Leadership” and plans to make the bestseller into a miniseries.
The Washington Examiner reports that Comey took part in a series of pitch meetings earlier this year, and that several networks were involved in a “highly competitive” auction for the chance to adapt Comey’s story to the small screen.
If CBS seals the deal — and it’s expected to — Alex Kurtzman, Shane Salerno, and Heather Kadin, are likely to sign on as executive producers, according to the Hollywood insider publication, Deadline. Billy Ray, who adapted “Captain Phillips” for the big screen, is slated to pen the screenplay (Ray will also executive produce). It’s not clear where the series will finally air — it could be a made-for-television event or air on one of CBS’s online subscription networks — or who will play James Comey.
Comey, of course, authored the memoir after being fired from the FBI by President Donald Trump earlier this year. Comey claimed to have recorded meetings with Trump in which the president expressed frustration with a special counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign had ties to Russian officials, and that an investigation into whether Hillary Clinton improperly handled classified information had come to nothing.
“Higher Loyalty,” which refers to what Comey says was demanded of him under the Trump administration, sold around 600,000 copies.