Deadline reports that Entertainment One is shopping a drama series based on Sharp Objects, the best-selling novel by Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn. Amy Adams is on board to star, Marti Noxon (UnREAL) would serve as showrunner, Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild) will direct, and Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) is executive producing. Flynn will be a writer on the show. That’s about six different ways to sell a property that’s already enticing on its own merits.
Per Deadline, the plot “centers on reporter Camille Preaker (Adams) who, fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, is sent to her small hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls where she has to reconnect with her estranged mother and half-sister.”
The show is being shopped to cable and streaming networks (I like at this point network television is just cut out of the conversation of any property that sounds remotely interesting), and I wonder how long it will be until one emerges with what sounds like a must-see show. It has all of the elements to be a hit, and it looks like the real coup is landing Adams for a series. She had a quiet 2015, but she looks to have a big year with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, and Denis Villeneuve’s Story of Your Life (assuming the later two open in 2016).
Jessica Lange for Adora Preaker. I would not have cast Adams because she doesn't come across to me as someone who is stoic. For some reason, I imagined someone like Olga Kurylenko when I read the book. But I hope Adams proves me wrong. Jean-Marc Vallée makes me excited because he can really bring out the best in actors.
I just read this. I was 50/50 on Flynn (loved Gone Girl, didn't even finished Dark Places... talking of the book, haven't seen the film).
This is one of the most fucked-up books I've ever read. I don't think I really liked it. HBO or Netflix is going to have to pick this because man the stuff in this book
It looks like HBO enjoys being in the Jean-Marc Vallée business. The director behind "Dallas Buyers Club" and "Wild" already has "Big Little Lies," starring Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, in the can for the network. Now he's got another project for the small screen, and HBO wants to have it.
And indeed, they shall. First announced earlier this year when it started gearing up, HBO has now acquired "Sharp Objects," the best-selling thriller from "Gone Girl" author Gillian Flynn. Marti Noxon ("Buffy The Vampire Slayer," "Fright Night") will co-write the story with Flynn, and showrun the series, which will follow a reporter who returns to her hometown to cover the killings of two young girls.
Here's the book synopsis:
Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or her half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story and survive this homecoming.
HBO gave "Sharp Objects" an eight-episode order out of the gate and it's all systems go, with Vallée to direct every episode. Exciting stuff, and maybe a good substitute for "True Detective" season three, which seems to be nowhere in sight.
Patricia Clarkson has been tapped to co-star opposite Amy Adams in HBO’s eight-episode drama series Sharp Objects, from Entertainment One.
Written by Marti Noxon based on the book by Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects centers on reporter Camille Preaker (Adams). Fresh from a brief stay at a psychiatric hospital, Camille must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Trying to put together a psychological puzzle from her past, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims a bit too closely.
Oscar nominee Clarkson will play Adora Crellin, Camille’s mother, and queen of Wind Gap’s highest society. Haunted by the untimely passing of Camille’s sister decades earlier, her anxiety is manifested through an overbearing love and protection for her youngest, Amma. The sudden return of her estranged daughter provokes her subtle hostility that threatens Camille’s sobriety and sanity.
Noxon, who serves as writer/showrunner, executive produces alongside Adams; Flynn, who is writing multiple episodes; and Big Little Lies‘ Jean-Marc Vallée, who is directing all episodes an serves as co-editor. Also executive producing are Jason Blum, Charles Layton, Jessica Rhoades for Blumhouse Productions and Nathan Ross.
