Colson Whitehead’s Harlem trilogy could become Apple TV’s next major drama hit

Apple TV is developing a series based on Colson Whitehead’s Harlem trilogy featuring Ray Carney’s crime saga

Apple TV is developing a new crime drama series based on Colson Whitehead’s bestselling Harlem trilogy, Variety has reported. The project will adapt Whitehead’s acclaimed novels Harlem Shuffle, Crook Manifesto and Cool Machine for the small screen.

The Apple TV series is currently in early development and will follow Ray Carney, a Harlem furniture salesman whose life becomes increasingly connected to the city’s criminal underworld. The adaptation will explore themes of crime, ambition, morality and social change across several decades of New York history.

The Harlem trilogy begins with Harlem Shuffle, published in 2021, which introduces Carney during the 1950s and early 1960s as Harlem experiences major cultural and economic shifts. The second novel, Crook Manifesto, moves into the 1960s and 1970s, exploring riots, blaxploitation culture and Carney’s growing moral struggles. The recently released Cool Machine, published in July 2026, continues his journey into the 1980s.

Graham Yost, known for Silo, and Aric Avelino, writer of American Gun, are adapting the novels for television. They will executive produce alongside Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak from Pastel, Melissa Bernstein of Special Interests, and Whitehead himself.

The Apple TV adaptation marks another major screen project based on Whitehead’s work. His Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad was previously adapted into a 2021 limited series by Jenkins for Amazon Prime Video. Another Pulitzer-winning book, The Nickel Boys, became a 2024 film that earned Oscar nominations.

With its crime drama elements and historical setting, the Harlem trilogy series could become one of Apple TV’s major upcoming literary adaptations.