Easy Tiger, the Australian producer behind Colin From Accounts, has won TV rights to Dervla McTiernan’s bestselling psychological thriller Three Reasons For Revenge after what sources described to Deadline as a “heated auction.” Shaun Grant (The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Snowtown) is attached to write the television adaptation.
No broadcaster or streamer is attached yet. Easy Tiger will take the package out to market, a path that lets platforms compete after the underlying book and writer are already in place.
The package
The novel follows what its synopsis calls “three seemingly unconnected people caught in a lethal web of deceit and unhealed wounds.” Three mysterious gifts are delivered to three different houses in Melbourne, each tailored to the recipient and designed to tear apart that person’s life. It is a contained, high-concept thriller with natural episode hooks.
- Book: Three Reasons For Revenge by Dervla McTiernan, a chart-topper in Australia this year.
- Producer: Easy Tiger, behind Colin From Accounts, The Twelve, Scrublands, Netflix’s Territory and Disney’s Saving Mr Banks.
- Writer: Shaun Grant, attached to adapt.
- Status: No streamer or broadcaster attached; market launch next.
- Deal: Negotiated by Writers House’s Dan Conaway and Tom Ishizuka.
Why the package matters
For platform buyers, this is a lower-risk pitch: a proven bestseller, an attached screenwriter and a producer with recent international momentum. Colin From Accounts broke out on the BBC in the UK and Paramount+ in the US before ending after three seasons; Scrublands and Territory show drama range beyond comedy.
McTiernan’s screen history strengthens the case. The Ruin was set at Colin Farrell’s Chapel Place Productions in 2019, and The Murder Rule was developed at FX. The “heated auction” language signals competition for the book before a platform was in the room. For entertainment marketers, the structure is the story: Easy Tiger is converting an unproduced novel into a decision-ready asset, so buyers are evaluating schedule readiness rather than just story potential.
What to watch
Grant said he “immediately envisaged it as a television series” from the first read, while Gibson called McTiernan “a master at creating a gripping thriller plot” and the right writer to adapt the book.
The real test now is platform demand. A streamer attachment would turn this from a rights story into a slate decision. Media planners and entertainment marketers should track it as an early signal for premium Australian thriller IP, not as an active buy yet.
Source: Deadline
