City Entertainment's Executive Producers Joshua D. Maurer and Alixandre Witlin originally acquired the underlying rights from the estate of the author and sold it to Lionsgate as a miniseries television event, based on Maurer's original uncredited pitch and treatment to set the story in contemporary Paris.
Roman Polanski was originally interested to direct all of the episodes and Lionsgate Television executives were flown to Paris for an exclusive interview and meeting with Polanski to discuss the Joshua D. Maurer outline and pitch. Polanski approved of Maurer's original contemporary and new interpretation of the novel but eventually passed as it conflicted with his schedule.