TVDRAMA
Netflix has given the go-ahead to two new book adaptations, Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth, and ordered a fifth season of Sweet Magnolias.
Jinny Howe, VP of drama at Netflix, noted, “At Netflix, we love when stories transcend the page and light up the screen, allowing fans to experience beloved stories in new and exciting ways. The impact of these adaptations can be so powerful that it not only captivates new audiences around the world, it also causes a resurgence in popularity for the original source material, with many books returning to bestseller lists many years after their initial release.”
Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of forbidden love in 19th-century New York is set for a limited series adaptation with showrunner Emma Frost (The White Queen, Shameless). Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth, about a tight-knit Indian American in Cambridge, Massachusetts, hails from John Wells (The Pitt, Shameless), with Madhuri Shekar as writer and EP.
Sweet Magnolias, based on the book series by Sherryl Woods, is heading into season five with Sheryl J. Anderson returning as showrunner and executive producer.
In announcing the news on World Book Day, Netflix also revealed some stats about how adaptations have driven sales for Harlan Coben’s Missing You and Just One Look, Elin Hilderbrand’s The Perfect Couple, Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Julia Quinn’s Romancing Mr. Bridgerton and Caroline Kepnes’s You.
