Yet again more proof that working with HBO pays off for its talent, even if the project isn’t necessarily the most well received. While you may have already forgotten about it, last year’s “Hemingway & Gellhorn” (which was better than most folks gave it credit for) was another display for Nicole Kidman‘s acting chops. Nominations came in from Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG voters for her turn as a war reporter caught in a torrid affair with the author, and the actress hasn’t forgotten about it. She’s returning to the network with a project she’s shepherding that touches upon a hot button issue.
Kidman will star in and produce an adaptation of Kimberly McCreight‘s novel, “Reconstructing Amelia.” Tragic part for Kidman? Yep. Potent drama? Yep. Potential to turn into something about Modern Technology & Teenagers Being Scary? Sort of. It’s a mix of genre fare and genuine ripped-from-the-headlines stuff so we’ll just let you read the Amazon book synopsis:
In Reconstructing Amelia, the stunning debut novel from Kimberly McCreight, Kate’s in the middle of the biggest meeting of her career when she gets the telephone call from Grace Hall, her daughter’s exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Amelia has been suspended, effective immediately, and Kate must come get her daughter—now. But Kate’s stress over leaving work quickly turns to panic when she arrives at the school and finds it surrounded by police officers, fire trucks, and an ambulance. By then it’s already too late for Amelia. And for Kate.
An academic overachiever despondent over getting caught cheating has jumped to her death. At least that’s the story Grace Hall tells Kate. And clouded as she is by her guilt and grief, it is the one she forces herself to believe. Until she gets an anonymous text: She didn’t jump.
Reconstructing Amelia is about secret first loves, old friendships, and an all-girls club steeped in tradition. But, most of all, it’s the story of how far a mother will go to vindicate the memory of a daughter whose life she couldn’t save.
Sounds powerful or potboiler-y or both. At either rate, this is just getting out the gate as this still needs to find a writer and director. Kidman can probably get some decent names on the phone to discuss this one, so it’s a project worth keeping an eye on. [Deadline]