“Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post investigative journalist Carol Leonnig, will be getting the silver screen treatment. Rights to the book, which detail the scandals and security failures of the Secret Service, have been acquired in a competitive situation to be adapted into a television series.
“Zero Fail” debuted a the top of the New York Times Bestseller List upon its debut in May 2021 from Random House. Spanning 11 presidencies, the novel follows the missteps of the Secret Service, including the drunken outing the night before the Kennedy assassination to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “Zero Fail” digs into the steely resolve and sacrifices of many Secret Service agents who have committed their lives to protect the nation’s security, but also uncovers senior agents’ arrogant misconduct and salacious scandals that the service sought to keep quiet. In 2015, Leonnig was recognized with the Pulitzer Prize for her revelatory reporting on the Secret Service.
Thomas Tull, film producer and former CEO of Legendary Entertainment, financed the option based on his particular interest in the material, and Bobby Cohen (“Jarhead,” “Rounders,” “Now You See Me”) will executive produce the series along with Leonnig. Wynn Wygal will also produce. Dave Fierson of Klevan Longarzo Vance and Blumensaadt negotiated the deal.
Leonnig’s most recent book, “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year,” written with fellow Washington Post colleague Phillip Rucker, was released on July 20 and was a New York Times No. 1 Bestseller. She is repped by Kassie Evashevski at Anonymous Content and Elyse Cheney of the Cheney Agency.