Deadline reports that prolific producer Ryan Murphy is setting up his next project at FX, a series adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis‘ The Shards starring Kaia Gerber (American Horror Story).
The series will be directed by Max Winkler, who has worked on many Muprhy projects. He’s helmed episodes of American Horror Story, American Horror Stories, The Watcher, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and Grotesquerie.
The Shards is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale which follows a 17-year-old version of Ellis during his final year at Buckley prep school. When the enigmatic new student Robert Mallory arrives on campus, Ellis suspects he might be connected to the nearby serial killer known as The Trawler. The story was initially released on Ellis’ Patreon in 2020 as a serialized audiobook, but was published as a novel in 2023.
The Shards was previously in development at HBO, with Luca Guadagnino (Challengers) and Kristoffer Borgli (Dream Scenario) each considering directing the project. There were even rumblings that Jacob Elordi (Saltburn) was being eyed to star, but it ultimately fell apart due to creative differences.
“We were invested in The Shards at HBO, from January to September, until we parted ways, and it became an extremely frustrating experience, and what we thought we were able to do we were told that we can’t,” Ellis said (via World of Reel). “The show that we sold, through whatever machinations were going through at Warners Bros, was sadly not going to be that show anymore.“
Ellis added that the project had started to move in a direction he didn’t approve of. “I didn’t just want to get the thing made, I also wanted it to be good,” he said. “I wanted it to be what my version of good was. This had all been promised to me when we made the deal, and it was just not happening. I really felt like eight months of the year had been wasted. I was disappointed and bitter. I said never again. I’m never going to do this again.“
