Many years before her best-selling 2012 novel Gone Girl first hit bookstore shelves and subsequently became a critically-acclaimed crime thriller starring Ben Affleck and directed by David Fincher, author Gillian Flynn made her literary debut with Sharp Objects. Inspired by Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River (which was later adapted for film by Clint Eastwood), the story follows a young reporter out of Chicago who returns to her hometown to investigate a string of murders. Come July 8th, HBO’s limited series adaptation starring Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson will debut, and the freshly released first trailer gives us a peek at the action.
According to the official premise accompanying the trailer, the new series’ story differs very little from Flynn’s novel:
Amy Adams stars in Sharp Objects, a new 8 part limited series. Follow the story of reporter Camille Preaker (Adams) who returns to her small hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Trying to put together a psychological puzzle from her past, she finds herself identifying with the young victims a bit too closely.
The talent featured in front of, and behind, the camera packs quite the pedigree, and includes the likes of Big Little Lies director Jean-Marc Vallée and Get Out producer Jason Blum. Flynn also wrote the screenplay for one of the eight episodes, though this shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise. Aside from writing Gone Girl‘s screenplay and garnering a bunch of awards and nominations for it, she also wrote the story behind Steve McQueen’s (12 Years a Slave) upcoming film, Widows.
