HBO Picks Up Gillian Flynn ‘Sharp Objects’ Series With Amy Adams, ‘Demolition’ Director

UnREAL creator and former Mad Men writer Marti Noxon has been developing a series based on Gillian Flynn’s debut novel Sharp Objects for a couple of years now. But the project only really began to pick up steam recently as Amy Adams signed on to headline the series with Demolition director Jean-Marc Vallee attached to helm. Although previously speculated that the series could end up joining UnREAL on Lifetime, HBO has officially secured the television rights, adding a little extra prestige to the equation.

The Wrap reports that HBO has picked up Sharp Objects, noting that the first season will run for eight episodes — that wording is particularly curious, considering that Flynn’s debut novel is shorter than Gone Girl and Dark Places, both of which inspired film adaptations. It’s also possible that the reporting is a bit off, and that Sharp Objects will be a limited event miniseries, which would make more sense.

Adams will star in the lead role as Camille, a reporter recently discharged from a mental institution, who returns to her hometown to investigate the strange murders of two girls. While there, she teams up with a detective and contends with her eccentric mother and her snobby 13-year-old half-sister.

Vallee will direct all eight episodes, with several written by Flynn herself along with Noxon, who will also serve as showrunner. This should also sort of make up for HBO passing on Flynn and David Fincher’s Utopia series. Sort of.

In addition to collaborating on Sharp Objects, Adams and Vallee are set to re-team for the director’s forthcoming Janis Joplin film. Noxon will debut UnREAL Season 2 on Lifetime this summer, and is prepping her feature directorial debut To the Bone, a passion project based on her own struggles with an eating disorder, which stars Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves.