EXCLUSIVE: The Mentalist actor Simon Baker, Bruna Papandrea‘s Made Up Tales and Australian agent-producer Lee-Anne Higgins are taking to adapt Emily Perkins’ novel ‘Lioness.’
The trio have optioned the new ebook, which comes from bestselling Aotearoa New Zealand creator Perkins and received the current Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction on the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Guide Awards.
Baker, who took his first full TV collection starring position since The Mentalist in Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe earlier this 12 months, will direct all episodes. Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Katie Amos will produce for Made Up Tales, together with Higgins, Baker and Perkins.
Lioness follows Therese Thorne, a lady who has married a rich older man and constructed a profitable profession, however now finds a fraud investigation threatening her sense of loyalty in addition to her popularity. She faces a midlife reckoning about love and complicity, whereas being drawn to her neighbour, Claire, who presents an attractive, wild, however dangerous new strategy to womanhood.
The deal for TV rights was negotiated with The Company (London), and is the most recent female-led story IP acquisition for Made Up Tales, which is behind the likes of 9 Good Strangers, Massive Little Lies and The Misplaced Flowers of Alice Hart. In Could, we revealed Made Up Tales had bought rights to develop the Fiona McIntosh novel ‘The Peal Thief’ as a function movie. It’s also again in manufacturing on Binge authentic Strife and in post-production on Marcelle Lunam’s function movie debut Addition.
Higgins, in the meantime, has had a 20-year profession as a expertise rep after establishing United Administration with Natasha Harrison and Trish McAskill. Earlier than that, she labored with producer Jan Chapman on movies resembling The Piano, and produced Gillian Anderson-starrer The Final Days of Chez Nous, Ray Lawrence’s Lantana and Shirley Barrett’s Love Serenade.
Made Up Tales and Higgins mentioned in a joint assertion: “It at all times begins with a singular voice that compels us to need to deliver an awesome story to display, and once we first learn Emily’s ebook, we knew instantly this was for us. We’re excited to collaborate with really authentic creatives in Emily and Simon in adapting this intoxicating ebook for the display.”
Baker known as the ebook, “A good looking, witty and searingly sincere have a look at the dichotomy of aspiration and genuine identification in our time. Emily Perkins really understands the complexity of individuals and has written characters so wealthy and fascinating that I’m thrilled to be part of seeing them come to life on the display.”
Australia-born Baker is finest identified for starring in CBS drama The Mentalist between 2008 and 2015, touchdown him Display screen Actors Guild-, Emmy- and Golden Globe nominations. His movie credit embody LA Confidential, The Satan Wears Prada and Margin Name, and has extra lately appeared in Netflix hit Boy Swallows Universe, Stephen Johnson’s Excessive Floor, Del Kathryn Barton’s directorial debut, Blaze, Apple TV anthology collection Roar reverse Nicole Kidman, and Ivan Sen’s movie Limbo. He’s subsequent set to star in Prime Video’s miniseries The Slim Street to the Deep North, which stars Jacob Elordi and comes from Sony Photos Tv, and Taika Waititi’s movie adaptation of the Kazoo Ishiguro novel ‘Klara and the Solar.’
Baker made his directorial debut with Breath, a 2018 adaptation of Tim Winton’s novel of the identical title. It received him a DGA award and a nomination on the AACTA Awards — Australia’s reply to the Emmys.
Perkins mentioned: “I’m thrilled that ‘Lioness’ has been taken on by such sturdy inventive forces as Bruna Papandrea, Lee-Anne Higgins and Simon Baker – it’s nice to know they’ve linked with Therese’s story, and I can’t wait to see how they discover it for the display.”
Perkins is represented by Rogers, Coleridge and White.
