After the success of Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects has been adapted into a mini-series by HBO, and it’s set to premiere today.
Based on the book of the same name by The New York Times bestselling author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Dark Places), this eight-episode series tells the story of reporter Camille Preaker (Adams) who returns to her small hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Trying to put together a psychological puzzle from her past, she finds herself identifying with the young victims a bit too closely.
At the ATX Television Festival earlier this year, author of the novel Gillian Flynn spoke about how the book came to be.
“There were a lot of stories about men and violence, their rage, and how they handled that, but not about how women handled their anger and violence, particularly generationally,” said Flynn, giving context to the period when she wrote the book. “No one wanted to hear about women we can’t root for. We can’t root for Camille, she’s not a likeable character.” Camille’s complexity, the panel agreed, is what necessitated the novel’s transition into a limited series, rather than a film as with Flynn’s adaptation of Gone Girl.
“It’s changed the way I approach a character,” agreed Amy Adams. “Novels are so rich, and the internal monologue of Camille is almost impossible to capture in a 90-120 minute story. I’m getting ready to go back to do something on film now, and I’m like, ‘How am I going to tell this?’ Camille needed to be explored over eight episodes.”
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée from scripts by Marti Noxon and Gillian Flynn.
Executive producers are Jason Blum, Charles Layton and Jessica Rhoades, as well as Amy Adams, Gillian Flynn, Marti Noxon, Jean-Marc Vallée, Nathan Ross and Gregg Fienberg. Additional writers include co-executive producer Vince Calandra, co-producer Scott Brown, consulting producer Alex Metcalf, and Ariella Blejer & Dawn Kamoche. An Entertainment One (eOne) and Blumhouse Television production.
The series stars Amy Adams (Justice League), Patricia Clarkson (Maze Runner), Chris Messina (The Mindy Project), Eliza Scanlen (Home and Away), Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds) and Matt Craven (Resurrection).
The eight episode mini-series of Sharp Objects premieres July 8 at 9 pm.
