“Little Fires Everywhere” has found a home just over a week after Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington announced the project. Hulu gave a straight-to-series order for the eight-episode adaptation of Celeste Ng’s best-selling 2017 novel, The Tracking Board reports. With Witherspoon and Washington attached to star, the project unsurprisingly caused a bidding war.
Set in Cleveland, the book follows Elena Richardson, a woman whose “guiding principle is playing by the rules,” according to its synopsis. “Enter Mia Warren — an enigmatic artist and single mother — who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.”
Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine nabbed the rights to the book before it hit shelves last year. The production company then brought it to Washington and her Simpson Street banner.
Liz Tigelaar has signed on to adapt “Little Fires Everywhere” and serve as showrunner. Her credits include “Casual,” “Nashville,” and “Revenge.”
Joining Witherspoon and Washington as a producer is Ng. Tracy Underwood of ABC Signature Studios will exec produce.
“Apparently, networks interested in the project had to go to the Hello Sunshine officers to pitch rather than Witherspoon, Washington, Tigelaar, and Underwood having to travel around town pitching, but it makes sense when you have that sort of prestige and clout involved in a project,” The Tracking Board writes. What a boss move. Sounds like the foursome are confident about the project’s potential — and how they expect to be treated by networks.
“At Hello Sunshine, we strive to shine a light on female-driven stories that are rooted in inspiration, emotion, and truth — all of which form the bedrock of Celeste Ng’s ingenious work,” said Witherspoon. “Hulu has a rich history of transforming groundbreaking literature into groundbreaking television, and we are confident that their talented team will use this story to spur a long-overdue dialogue around race, class, and what it means to be a mother. With Kerry Washington, Liz Tigelaar, and now Hulu, Hello Sunshine has brought together a dream lineup of creative collaborators, and we are privileged and humbled to have the opportunity to work with them to bring this important project to life.”
Washington added, “As producers, we at Simpson Street are so proud to be part of this team to tell this extraordinary story inspired by Celeste Ng’s phenomenal novel and we are thrilled to be embarking on this journey with Hulu. As an actress, I am floored to have the opportunity to work alongside Reese Witherspoon exploring the rich themes of this story playing these dynamic characters.”
Witherspoon can currently be seen in Ava DuVernay’s fantasy epic “A Wrinkle in Time,” in theaters now. The Oscar winner recently starred in and produced HBO’s “Big Little Lies.” The Emmy-winning murder mystery will return for a second season with Andrea Arnold directing every ep. Witherspoon is set to exec produce and star alongside Jennifer Aniston in an untitled Apple series about morning shows.
Washington toplined and exec produced “Confirmation,” an Emmy-nominated HBO movie about Anita Hill. She stars as Olivia Pope in “Scandal,” currently in its seventh and final season on ABC. The series finale of the Shonda Rhimes political thriller is slated to air on April 5.
