It’s not news that Jean-Marc Vallee was being eyed by HBO to direct at least one episode of its upcoming drama Big Little Lies. The Dallas Buyers Club helmer was in contention earlier this year, but today Deadline confirms his involvement, as Vallee is now attached to direct all seven episodes of the darkly funny miniseries.
HBO secured the series after its two stars snapped up the rights to Liane Moriarty’s New York Times Bestseller in August 2014. The novel takes place in suburban Australia and follows the bizarre goings-on between three women, who find themselves flung together at a school fund-raising trivia night. Sounds rather innocent, no? Well, the evening ends in murder and that’s where the real grit begins. Its black comedy undertones suggests its the perfect fit for the cable honchos, who’ve dabbled with small town secrets before in J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy, and the macabre humor of death in Six Feet Under.
With Vallee now at the helm for the entire series, Big Little Lies looks to be somewhat of a reunion; he directed Reese Witherspoon and co-star Laura Dern in last year’s Wild. As for the other major lead, that role was snagged by Nicole Kidman, who together with Witherspoon purchased the rights to get this quirky tale into production.
There’s as yet no fixed release date for the series, but it’s expected to arrive sometime in 2016. Adam Scott, Zoë Kravitz and Kathryn Newton co-star.