Made Up Stories has announced its next book-to-screen adaptation, partnering with producer and agent Lee-Anne Higgins and Simon Baker to option Emily Perkins’ Lioness.
A recent winner of the prestigious Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, the psychological thriller follows central character Therese Thorne, who has married a wealthy older man and built a successful career, only for a fraud investigation to threaten her sense of loyalty as well as her reputation. She faces a midlife reckoning about love and complicity while being drawn to her neighbour, Claire, who offers an enticing, wild, but risky new approach to womanhood.
The story will be adapted for television with Baker attached to direct all episodes. Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, and Katie Amos will produce for Made Up Stories along with Higgins, Baker, and Perkins.
The company, known for its adaptations of Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, as well as the soon-to-be-released The Last Anniversary, said in a joint statement with Higgins that they were excited to collaborate with “truly original creatives” such as Perkins and Baker in bringing the book to screen.
“It always starts with a unique voice that compels us to want to bring a great story to screen, and when we first read Emily’s book, we knew immediately this was for us,” they said.
Perkins, whose screenwriting credits include co-writing the feature film adaptation The Rehearsal with director Alison Maclean and writing on the acclaimed television drama After the Party, was pleased her book had been taken on by “such strong creative forces”.
“It’s great to know they’ve connected with Therese’s story, and I can’t wait to see how they explore it for the screen,” she said.
Baker, who recently appeared in Netflix’s adaptation of Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe described Perkins’ story as a “beautiful, witty and searingly honest look at the dichotomy of aspiration and authentic identity in our time”.
“Emily Perkins truly understands the complexity of people and has written characters so rich and engaging that I’m thrilled to be a part of seeing them come to life on the screen,” he said.
The deal was negotiated with The Agency (London). Perkins is represented by Rogers, Coleridge and White.