Snoop Dogg to make 'hood TV show' adapting Joe Ide's IQ series

Rapper Snoop Dogg is producing the TV adaptation for the IQ detective series by Joe Ide (pictured), after TV rights were snapped up in a seven-way bidding war by American film production company Alcon.

The deal for TV rights was struck between Alcon and Will Watkins at ICM, and Snoop Dogg and Snoopadelic Films have since signed up to executive produce.

Published in 2016, IQ stars the eponymous African-American private detective Isaiah Quintabe, with the series also made up of Righteous, Wrecked and most recently Hi Five, which was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on 5th March.

Ide, who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where the books are based, was inspired to write the series by his love of Sherlock Holmes. Described as "Sherlock Holmes meets 'The Wire'", the series has received praise from the likes of Ian Rankin, Attica Locke and Michael Connelly, and his debut novel, IQ, won the Shamus Award, the Anthony Award and the Macavity Award.

"House of Lies" duo Matthew Carnahan and Theo Travers will serve as creators and executive producers on the series, with Deon Taylor is attached to direct. Additional executive producers on the series are Alcon Television Group c.e.o.s Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove and Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven and Alex Gartner. Carnahan’s producing partner, Joel Ehninger, and Ben Roberts of Alcon Television Group are also executive producing. Robert Amidon of Atlas Entertainment and Ted Chung of Snoopadelic Films will serve as producers.

Ide said: "Snoop once said, 'I'm looking for a deal from one of you TV networks to give Snoop Dogg his own hood TV show where I can find America's hottest hood artists'. I'm thrilled he got his wish."

Federico Andornino, editorial director at W&N, said: "I don’t think I have ever seen a better match than Joe Ide and Snoop Dogg: this is going to be explosive TV at its very best."