The Quiet Tenant is a psychological thriller about kidnapper and serial killer Aidan Thomas, told by those closest to him: his thirteen-year-old daughter, his girlfriend and the only victim he spared. It explores the psychological impact of Aidan's crimes on the women in his life - and the bonds between these women that give them the strength to fight back.
Blumhouse TV acquired the rights to the national bestseller The Quiet Tenant shortly after the novel was published by Knopf in the US and Abacus in the UK. The company then started looking for a writer who wanted to adapt the novel into a film.
“I’ve been a big fan of Anthony’s cinematic style and approach to storytelling on TV since the early days of CSI,” Blumhouse’s Jason Blum said. “I knew the minute he pitched The Quiet Tenant that he was the right voice to bring Clémence Michallon’s heart-pounding novel to television, and we are thrilled to produce this project alongside the talented team at Secret Menu who has produced some of the best female character-driven film and TV projects to date.”
The list of such projects that Denver & Delilah and Olmstead have produced over the years includes the films Bombshell, Atomic Blonde and Monster, for which Theron won an Oscar, and the series Angelyne, The Act and Candy.
Zuiker takes on The Quiet Tenant after spending the past two and a half decades with the 900-episode CSI franchise, whose most recent expansion, CSI: Vegas, ended in May after three seasons on CBS. This is his first collaboration with Blumhouse TV.
“When I read Clémence Michallon’s The Quiet Tenant, I could not put it down,” Zuiker said. “The descriptive nature of the story and its thrilling sensibilities in the narrative spoke to me for the small screen. This is a story about a woman taking her power back against the most pulse hammering of circumstances.”
This marks a reunion for Secret Menu CEO Olmstead and Blum, who co-created several series under Blumhouse's long-term deal with NBCUniversal when Olmstead was president of NBCU's UCP, including The Purge for USA Network and the five-part documentary A Wilderness of Error for FX.
“When Jason sent us this intense, taut thriller that took such an original approach to an abduction story, we immediately said yes because it is exactly what Secret Menu was built for,” Olmstead said. “We are so lucky to be working with Blumhouse again and to have scored Anthony Zuiker to adapt.”
The Quiet Tenant is produced by Blumhouse Television's Blum and Chris Dickie and Secret Menu's Theron, Olmstead, Kono and Dix.
