Speaking about HBO’s cooperation with British production companies, comes news of another BBC collaboration that will make its way to HBO next year – CORMORAN STRIKE. And, unless the novelist from whence the source material comes from, Robert Galbraith (actually J. K. Rowling) quickly writes another, this looks like the last detective job for the title character for a while. Supposedly, there are designs for a ten-book series and, hopefully, they all turn into BBC/HBO content. The six to date turned into cinematic retellings and they are THE CUCKOO’S CALLING, THE SILKWORM, THE CAREER OF EVIL, LETHEL WHITE, THE TROUBLED BLOOD, and THE INK BLACK HEART.
The latest, now in preproduction and expected to get in front of cameras this Fall, is THE RUNNING GRAVE. It will see private Detective Cormoran Strike being contacted by a worried father whose son, Will, has gone to join a religious cult in the depths of the Norfolk countryside. The Universal Humanitarian Church (UHC) is, on the surface, a peaceable organisation that campaigns for a better world. Yet Strike discovers that beneath the surface, there are deeply sinister undertones and unexplained deaths.
In order to try to rescue Will, Strike’s business partner Robin Ellacott decides to infiltrate the cult, and she travels to Norfolk to live incognito amongst them. But in doing so, she is unprepared for the dangers that await her. Meanwhile, Strike looks into the founder & leader of the UHC, Jonathan Wace, and his wife, Mazu Wace, and investigates the mysterious deaths connected to the UHC, including multiple suicides, and the 1995 drowning of the Waces’ seven-year-old daughter. What they uncover is going to take its toll.
Hopefully, actors Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger will reprise their roles. We will keep you informed when a premiere date is set sometime in 2026. In the meantime, the previous six titles are curated on HBO Max under the name of C. B. STRIKE.
