KUALA LUMPUR: UK production company Envision Entertainment will be adapting Malaysian crime thriller novel, 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan & The Yee Sang Murders, into a TV series.
Variety reported that Envision's chief content officer Michael Nakan had said that, "The Inspector Mislan character is perfect for television, he is a gritty, seemingly incorruptible Malay-Muslim street cop who brooks no opposition, from the criminal mafia or his superiors."
"Thanks to the uniquely creative writing of Rozlan Mohd Noor, I am delighted we have the opportunity to bring Inspector Mislan to the television audience," he said.
Nakan added: "We intend to partner a Malaysian writer-filmmaker with a British one in order to make high quality, authentic content which works for both local and global audiences — this is the first of several projects with international appeal we have in consideration."
21 Immortals, published in 2010, is the first in a series of English-language Inspector Mislan Latif novels written by former criminal investigation department (CID) investigator, Rozlan Mohd Noor.
The story begins with three embalmed corpses of a mother, father and son that are purposefully seated at a traditional yee sang feast and it's up to the titular rugged hero to solve the case.
Envision director David Barron, who produced six Harry Potter films, said: "Once I started reading 21 Immortals I realised the enormous potential the Inspector Mislan character has for both film and television production, so optioning the books has been the first step in bringing this gritty Malaysian cop to life on screen."
Rozlan was a crime investigator in the CID of the Royal Malaysia Police and a court prosecutor for 11 years before moving to the private sector.