Jill Scott's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Coming To HBO

With its initial airing on BBC coming in a few weeks, it was a matter of time before someone in the United States picked up the rights to show the film and possible series for Americans.

HBO has stepped up and will be showing 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.'

In a press release sent by the cable network, in addition to the two-hour film, which will serve as the pilot, HBO has ordered 13 one-hour episodes that will begin filming this summer, with HBO obtaining U.S. and Canadian television and home video rights, and the BBC taking UK television distribution. The Weinstein Company, which controls all other international territories, is planning to take the project to market at MIP in April.

The dynamic and diverse cast for the television pilot includes Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott as series heroine Precious Ramotswe, who has become one of the most beloved characters in international contemporary fiction. Anika Noni Rose ('Dreamgirls') stars as Precious' quirky secretary Mma Makutsi, and Lucian Msamati stars as Mma Ramotswe's devoted suitor JLB Matekoni. They are joined by David Oyelowo ('The Last King of Scotland'; HBO's 'Five Days' and 'As You Like It'), Idris Elba ('28 Weeks Later,' HBO's 'The Wire'), Colin Salmon ('Die Another Day,' 'Match Point') and Tony Award winner John Kani ('Final Solution,' 'The Ghost and the Darkness').

'Alexander McCall Smith's wonderful books have been a sensation around the world for years, and we're thrilled to be teaming up with the BBC and The Weinstein Company (TWC) to adapt these highly entertaining stories for HBO,' notes Richard Plepler, co-president, HBO; 'And needless to say, the opportunity to work with the exceptionally gifted Anthony Minghella and Richard Curtis makes this project all the more exciting.'

Says director/co-writer/executive producer Anthony Minghella, 'Filming THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY in Botswana was an amazing adventure. The people were marvelous and the landscape, especially in the northern areas of the country, is extraordinary. Particularly fascinating to me was working and filming in an African country where old and new are currently coexisting, where traditional values have not yet been eroded by the demands and efficiencies and neuroses of the modern. It was a privilege to be working on a film which celebrates what we can learn from Africa, and not what we think we can teach it.'

'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' is a poignant and passionate book series chronicling the adventures of Precious Ramotswe, the eminently sensible and wise proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. Aided by her highly-efficient yet rather peculiar secretary Mma Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe investigates cases, helps people solve problems in their lives, and begins a special friendship with the highly respectable owner of a local garage.