After spending months in development for an HBO series that ultimately fell apart, FX and one of the biggest TV producers around in Ryan Murphy are in early development on an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis‘ semi-autobiographical book, “The Shards,” an individual with knowledge of the project told IndieWire.
While it’s early days and there’s no writer attached just yet, the series adaptation does have Kaia Gerber (“Bottoms,” “Saturday Night”) meant to star and Max Winkler, who has worked on Murphy’s “American Horror Story,” “Monster,” and “Feud,” set to direct the pilot episode of the series.
20th Century Television is producing the series alongside Ryan Murphy Television. Executive producers are Murphy, Ellis, Winkler, Nick Hall, Kathleen McCaffrey, and Brian Young.
FX and 20th Century TV had no comment.
“The Shards” is an unusual piece of source material as it’s a 600-page, unedited transcript drawn largely from Ellis’ Patreon serial that is largely about himself: it’s about a character named Bret writing a book called “Less Than Zero,” it’s set back in 1981 Los Angeles, and he’s a nihilistic, bisexual, prep-school teen. The book also follows the murders of a serial killer known as The Trawler, but the whole book is pulpy and sprawling in a way that may make it difficult to adapt.
Originally, Ellis himself was going to write the series adaptation when it was set at HBO, including with “Dream Scenario” director Kristoffer Borgli attached to direct, but the project didn’t materialize following creative differences. Murphy meanwhile has been circling the project alongside Ellis since February, but it’s only now landed at FX with both Gerber and Winkler invovled.
Gerber most recently appeared in an episode of “Hacks,” on “Overcompensating,” and on the Apple TV+ series “Palm Royale.”
Murphy has deals with Netflix and with 20th Century. For the former he’s working on the next season of “Monster,” this time focused on Ed Gein starring Charlie Hunnam, and he’s also at work on “9-1-1 Nashville,” “All’s Fair” with Kim Kardashian, “The Beauty,” and the next season of “American Love Story.”
Deadline first reported the news.
