Leslye Headland, who recently wrapped production on the Star Wars series The Acolyte, has been tapped to direct Netflix’s adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid‘s bestselling novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
Liz Tigelaar, the creator and showrunner of Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things, wrote the script, and Liza Chasin is producing the movie under her 3Dot Productions banner alongside Circle of Confusion’s Brad Mendelsohn. Margaret Chernin will executive produce with Jenkins Reid, who is red-hot right now thanks to Amazon’s series adaptation of her novel Daisy Jones & the Six.
Evelyn Hugo follows a Hollywood starlet who sits down with a young journalist to dish on her seven marriages. As she tells her scandalous Hollywood story, she reveals shocking truths about her own life and those of everyone around her.
Jenkins Reid’s book has become something of a phenomenon on TikTok, and Headland reportedly beat out stiff competition for the coveted Netflix gig on the strength of buzz for The Acolyte coming out of London’s Star Wars Celebration.
Headland famously served as Harvey Weinstein‘s personal assistant before making her directorial debut with the well-reviewed comedy Bachelorette. She went on to direct series such as Black Monday and SMILF for Showtime before signing on to serve as writer, director, and showrunner of Netflix’s acclaimed time loop comedy Russian Doll, which led her to Lucasfilm’s doorstep.
Headland serves as creator, showrunner, writer, and executive producer on The Acolyte, and she has a multi-year overall deal with Fox 21 Television Studios, which is owned by Disney. She also recently exec produced and directed Single Drunk Female for Freeform.
UTA represents Tigelaar and Headland, who is also repped by Sugar23. Deadline broke the news of Headland landing the Evelyn Hugo gig. And now the question turns to who will play the title character. Jessica Chastain has been rumored, but she swears she’s not involved as of now, so stay tuned for updates…
