Limited series – or, as we tend to call them in the UK, miniseries – have become something of a hot trend across the pond, spurred, no doubt, by the success of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in True Detective’s first season. So the chance to dip into a short run on TV is clearly appealing to the likes of Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, who are attached to star in and produce Big Little Lies.
David E. Kelley, a man with no little TV experience (he created The Practice, Boston Legal, Ally McBeal and Picket Fences among others) has signed on to adapt Liane Moriarty’s bestselling dark comedy tome.
Big Little Lies follows three very different suburban mothers whose lives are at a crossroads. Madeline is the alpha-mom dealing with her ex-husband and his new wife moving into her beachside community. Then there’s her beautiful friend Celeste, who appears to be queen of the school crowd but finds that it comes with a price. New to the area is Jane, a young single mother who befriends the other two but may be more than she seems...
Kidman and Witherspoon partnered up with their production companies to option the book in August as a potential film, but now appear to be shopping the project around to cable networks and the newer players in the telly world, the streaming services. Given the names involved, someone will likely snap it up soon.