Per Deadline, Liz Hannah has signed on to make her directorial debut with an adaptation of Alexandra Andrews‘ debut novel, Under Another Name. The rights to the book were bought late last year by Universal for producers Chris Morgan Productions & Pascal Pictures.
Hannah made a high-profile debut with the spec script The Post, which turned into the Steven Spielberg-directed drama starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep about the Washington Post’s role in exposing the Pentagon Papers. She’s also a writer-producer on season 2 of Netflix’s Mindhunter, and an executive producer on the upcoming Hulu limited series, The Drop Out.
Under Another Name is a psychological thriller about ambition, and has been described as “timely”. It isn’t set for publication until March 2021, so the early buzz within the book business must be very strong for Universal to purchase the rights this far in advance.
And they obviously have high hopes for this considering the producers they’ve brought on board. Chris Morgan has produced the Fast & Furious franchise among other projects, and will produce alongside Amy Pascal, one of the biggest producing names in the business, whose recent projects include Little Women and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. She also bought Hannah’s The Post spec script.
“Collaborating with Amy on The Post was a life-changing experience”, Hannah said in a statement. “And I couldn’t imagine my directorial debut being with any other producer. I’m honoured to bring Alexandra’s unforgettable novel to the screen, and I can’t wait to kick off this next chapter”.
We’ll wait for more specific plot details about the novel to emerge. But expect Universal to put plenty of marketing push behind the eventual adaptation considering the resources they’ve already put towards the project.
#Peace.Love.UnderAnotherName
