HBO is building on the success of Big Little Lies. It looks like limited TV series, based on novels and starring big-name female movie stars, are recipes for success.
HBO is developing Annapurna Television's adaptation of Today Will Be Different, Deadline reported Thursday. It was reported in December that Julia Roberts would star in the series, based on Maria Semple's bestselling novel of the same name. But the news that HBO is taking charge of the project is new. Roberts is also producing the series, while Semple is going to write the script, TVLine reports.
Deadline notes that Roberts starred in 2014's The Normal Heart, an HBO TV movie about the AIDs crisis directed by Ryan Murphy. But this is the actress' first starring role in a TV series. The outlet also explains that this isn't Semple's first foray into TV, either. The author was once a writer for Arrested Development and Mad About You.
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It makes sense that the show will be a limited series — the entire thing takes place over the course of a single day. Today Will Be Different focuses on Eleanor Flood, Roberts' character, attempts to get her life in order, which, naturally, isn't as easy as it seems. (Deadline's exact words to describe the project are that it's "a rollicking portrait of one woman's fumbling but valiant attempt to navigate the knotty perils and sly grace of modern life." Take that as you will.)
The golden age of TV definitely isn't over — and if you haven't read the book yet, you might want to do so. If Big Little Lies is any indication, everyone will be talking about this new show.
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