Jake Gyllenhaal is coming to TV. Filmmaker Janicza Bravo (“Zola,” “Lemon”) will pen and direct a series adaptation of Ian Parker’s 2019 New Yorker article “A Suspense Novelist’s Trail of Deceptions”.
The article explores the complex life of former book editor Dan Mallory. Mallory’s debut psychological thriller novel “The Woman in the Window” was penned under the pseudonym A.J. Finn and was number one on the New York Times bestseller list – the first debut novel to do so in twelve years.
The series adaptation will follow an unreliable and pathological narrator who lies extensively about his past in order to excuse personal shortcomings and illegitimately further his literary work and career – preying on people’s sympathy to get away with almost anything.
Bravo says: “What may have started out as my dog ate homework turns into my mother died of cancers, my brother took his life and I have a double doctorate. Our protagonist is white, male, and pathological. There is a void in him and he fills it by duping people. He’s a scammer. The series examines white identity and how we as an audience participate in making room for this behavior. Getting to partner with Annapurna and Nine Stories is a gift and I am most thrilled for what lies ahead.”
Bravo will co-write the pilot with Brian Savelson, and will also executive produce alongside Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker. Megan Ellison, Sue Naegle, Sammy Scher, and Susan Goldberg will also serve as executive producers.
Source: Deadline
