One of the most hotly anticipated literary adaptations has found its director.
Deadline reports that Leslye Headland is attached to direct Netflix’s planned film based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. The adaptation was first announced last year.
Reid’s novel, published in 2017 by Atria, follows a reclusive actor who opens up about her life and career to an obscure magazine reporter. A critic for Kirkus called the book “a celebration of human frailty that speaks to the Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in us all.”
Headland is known for directing the films Bachelorette and Sleeping With Other People, as well as episodes of television series such as Heathers, Black Monday, and Russian Doll.
Reid’s novels have been adapted for the screen before. A film based on her novel One True Loves was released in April, and a television adaptation of her book Daisy Jones & the Six premiered in March. A series based on Malibu Rising is in the works, as well as a film adaptation of her latest novel, Carrie Soto Is Back.
Reid’s fans have been clamoring for updates on the Evelyn Hugo adaptation for months. Some readers are eager to see Jessica Chastain cast in the film; the actor recently declined to sign a copy of the novel for a fan.
The Evelyn Hugo screenplay is written by Liz Tigelaar (Little Fires Everywhere), who is also co-writing the Malibu Rising series. Reid is among the movie’s executive producers.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
