Have your books been made into films and TV?

Jeffrey's answer

Yes, several — and many more are in development.

The story of my books on screen is, in many ways, the story of how television used to work and how it works now.

Kane and Abel was made into a CBS television mini-series in the United States in 1985, starring Peter Strauss as Abel Rosnovski and Sam Neill as William Lowell Kane. It was a serious production for its day — multiple episodes, full network budget, big audiences. The book had been published five years earlier and had become a global bestseller, and the studio bet on a faithful adaptation. They were right to. The series found a large American audience and was followed, the next year, by a BBC mini-series in Britain.

First Among Equals was adapted by Granada Television in 1986 — a ten-part British political drama that took the novel’s four-MP structure and brought it to the screen with the kind of cast British television still knew how to assemble. Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less was adapted by the BBC in 1990. Both adaptations were of their moment; both, in different ways, have stood up.

What has changed, in the decades since, is the industry. The old “novel sold to studio, single mini-series produced” model has given way to a more complex landscape: streaming services, prestige limited series, international co-productions, rights packages bundled across film and television. To handle this properly, in 2022 I formed The Jeffrey Archer Company, which now manages film and television rights across the entire catalogue — twenty-eight novels, nine short story collections, the Prison Diaries, the children’s books, and the unsold material that has accumulated over fifty years.

The most exciting current project is Paramount’s adaptation of Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, in development for the book’s 50th anniversary in June 2026. The 50th Anniversary Edition publishes the same month. The intention is that the screen adaptation and the new edition arrive in the same window — a coordinated moment that brings the book to readers who were not yet born when it first appeared.

Several other adaptations are in development, including projects on the Clifton Chronicles, on individual short stories from the collections, and on titles I am not yet able to name. The Jeffrey Archer Company is the right route for anyone wishing to discuss screen rights — production companies, writers, directors, agents.

What I have not done, and will not do, is sell rights cheaply, or to producers who do not understand the books. The catalogue exists because readers cared. The adaptations have to honour that.

A few practical notes

• For producers, screenwriters, agents. All screen rights enquiries via The Jeffrey Archer Company. The company handles the full catalogue: novels, short stories, children’s books, and unpublished material.
• Existing adaptations. Kane and Abel — CBS mini-series 1985, BBC mini-series 1986. First Among Equals — Granada TV 1986. Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less — BBC 1990. Tales of the Unexpected — three Archer stories dramatised over 1979–1988.
• In development. Paramount’s adaptation of Not a Penny More for the 50th anniversary (June 2026). Other projects across the Clifton Chronicles and the short story library.
• The 95 short stories. Available individually for screen adaptation via the Story Hub — Jeffrey describes them as ready-to-shoot ideas, often with twist endings that work brilliantly as short films or anthology episodes.
• Screenplays JA has written himself. Two — Paths of Glory (the Mallory-Everest novel) and False Impression.
• The licensing model. JA retains creative consultation rights on adaptations of major works. The company’s preference is to work with producers who understand the books.

Media rights deck. A full catalogue with synopses and adaptation potential is here.