HBO has landed a deal for the limited series “Big Little Lies,” featuring the powerhouse trio of Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and David E. Kelley.
Witherspoon and Kidman will star and produce the darkly comic drama centering on three mothers of kindergartners whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder. Kelley is adapting the series from the 2014 novel by Liane Moriarty.
The starry pairing of Witherspoon and Kidman is similar to the “True Detective” model that brought Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson to HBO with great success last year. The limited-series format gives bigger names a chance to work in the TV arena without making an open-ended commitment to an ongoing series.
Witherspoon and Kidman optioned the rights to “Big Little Lies” through their respective production banners — Pacific Standard Films and Blossom Films. CAA packaged the project with Kelley and shopped it to multiple premium TV buyers including Netflix. The number of episodes has yet to be determined.
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Witherspoon, Kidman and Kelley are exec producing along with Pacific Standard’s Bruna Papandrea and Blossom Films’ Per Saari.
Kelley most recently spearheaded CBS comedy series “The Crazy Ones.” Witherspoon hit the multiplexes this week with comedy “Hot Pursuit.” Kidman’s upcoming pics include the Blossom-produced “The Family Fang,” with Jason Bateman co-starring and directing.
Moriarty is repped by Jerry Kalajian at Intellectual Property Group.
