Netflix Plans ‘Man on Fire’ Series Adaptation

Netflix Adapting ‘Man on Fire’ Novel into New Thriller Series

It’ll feature a fresh actor playing former mercenary John Creasy after Denzel Washington starred as the character in a 2004 movie.

(L to R) Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning in director Tony Scott's 'Man on Fire.'

Action thrillers have long been a go-to genre for movie studios and TV channels and streaming services are not immune to their lure. Prime Video has the likes of ‘Reacher’ and ‘Jack Ryan’, while Netflix has seen success with the recent likes of ‘The Night Agent’.

Now, the streamer is looking for more action, planning a new adaptation of A.J. Quinnell’s novel 'Man on Fire,' which was published in 1980 and has been previously turned into a movie in 1987 (starring Scott Glenn) and most famously in 2004, starring Denzel Washington.

Kyle Killen, who worked on ‘Fear Street’ for the company, is on board to serve as writer, executive producer and showrunner. He also worked on Paramount+’s adaptation of game series ‘Halo’ but left the show before it began production rather than relocate.

New Regency Productions, which owns the rights to the character and produced the movie starring Washington directed by the late Tony Scott, has been in talks with the streaming service for a while, looking to lock in a writer/showrunner.

Man on Fire

"Creasy's art is death, and he is about to paint his masterpiece."

R2 hr 26 minApr 23rd, 2004

Watch Man on Fire Online

What’s the plot of ‘Man on Fire’?

While the books have Creasy as an American former member of the French Foreign Legion, the movie updated the basics to feature him as a hard-drinking, burnt-out ex-CIA operative who has given up on life until he’s hired as a bodyguard to protect 9-year-old Pita Ramos (Dakota Fanning). Bit by bit, Creasy (Washington) begins to reclaim some of his soul, but when Pita is kidnapped, Creasy’s fiery rage is finally released and he will stop at nothing to save her as he sets out on a dangerous, revenge-fueled rescue mission.

Let’s just say that a whole lot of explosions follow, and plenty of people are stabbed/ shot/punched etc.

Killen has plenty of material to use for the series, since Quinnell (the pen name of author Philip Nicholson) wrote four more novels –– 1992’s ‘The Perfect Kill’, 1993’s ‘The Blue Ring’, 1994’s ‘Black Horn’ and 1996’s ‘Message from Hell’, which all feature Creasy.

The Netflix show, which has an eight-episode, straight-to-series order, will adapt ‘Man on Fire’ and ‘The Perfect Kill’.

And it wouldn’t directly adapt the 2004 film’s plot regardless, given that –– spoiler alert! –– Creasy dies from his injuries at the end (in the book, he fakes his death). He should enjoy (though given his dour mood, “enjoy” might be a stretch) a longer life if things go his way on Netflix.

Of course, a bigger challenge will be finding someone to play Creasy who can make the same sort of impact (in various senses of the word) that Washington managed in the movie, in which he co-starred with Dakota Fanning. That decision is still to come, so we wouldn’t expect the show to arrive before 2024.