Apple TV has acquired rights to Colson Whitehead’s Harlem trilogy and is in early development on an ongoing series. Variety confirmed the news. Graham Yost and Aric Avelino are adapting the books, with Barry Jenkins executive producing alongside Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak of Pastel, Melissa Bernstein of Special Interests and Whitehead himself.
The trilogy spans the 1950s through the 1980s in New York, following Ray Carney, a furniture salesman drawn into Harlem’s criminal underworld. The first book, Harlem Shuffle, is set in the 1950s and early ’60s. Crook Manifesto moves into the 1960s and ’70s against the backdrop of riots and the rise of blaxploitation culture. The third installment, Cool Machine, published July 21 and included on Barack Obama’s summer reading list — follows Carney into the 1980s.
The project marks the latest screen adaptation of Whitehead’s work. Jenkins previously directed the 2021 Prime Video miniseries of Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, and The Nickel Boys earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay in 2024. Several other works of his have had adaptations set at different studios in the past.
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