Strong Studios to adapt South African crime novel ‘Piranha’

US-based Strong Studios is adapting South African crime writer Rudie Van Rensburg’s novel Piranha into a new thriller series, titled Endangered.

The scripted series centers around Montgomery Smith, a wealthy Englishman-in-exile, who runs an illegal, corrupt, and dangerous syndicate smuggling endangered rhino horn, and the veteran detective Captain Kassie Kasselman, who aggressively pursues Smith from the Cape ganglands to Kruger’s national parks to Pretoria, South Africa’s bustling political capital.

Stuart Urban (The Mystery of Suzy Lamplugh) will direct with screenwriter Jake Riddell (Reyka) penning the six-part limited series. Strong Studios and Convergent Media will oversee global distribution, excluding Africa, which will be handled by M-Net/Multichoice Africa.

“While researching rhino poaching, I became increasingly aware of how serious of a problem it is. It’s a great honour to have such renowned filmmakers helming the production of Endangered, and I’m delighted that this issue will be brought to the attention of a wider audience,” said Van Rensburg.

Production is expected to begin in early 2024 in South Africa, with ForLan Films’ Steve Lanning and Jake Lanning and Advantage Entertainment’s Vlokkie Gordon, along with Strong Global Entertainment’s chairman Kyle Cerminara; Strong Studios’ president David Ozer and EVP of production and development Scott Weinstock; Convergent Media’s Dan Reardon and Santosh Govindaraju; and M-Net’s Nicola van Niekerk, and Wikus du Toit.

“As we look to continue building our content pipeline to offer a broad range of entertainment, as well as expand into the international production arena, we are thrilled to collaborate with Convergent Media, ForLan Films, M-Net/Multichoice Africa, and Advantage Entertainment to bring Rudie’s compelling novel to life to deliver a series that shines a spotlight on the controversial rhino poaching trade,” said Ozer.