Drew Goddard To Produce TV Series Based On ‘Inland’ Novel By ‘The Tiger’s Wife’ Author For ABC Signature

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EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation with multiple bidders, ABC Signature, a division of Disney TV Studios, has acquired the rights to develop The Tiger’s Wife author Téa Obreht’s bestselling new novel Inland for television. The project will be executive produced by Drew Goddard and Sarah Esberg under Goddard’s Goddard Textiles banner.

It marks one of the first major pieces of development for former Daredevil and The Defenders executive producer Goddard, who is under a massive four-year overall deal at ABC Studios and its cable/streaming unit ABC Signature. The sought-after TV creator was originally signed by Disney TV Studios’ 20th Century Fox TV; Goddard’s pact migrated to ABC Studios following former 20th TV President of Creative Affairs Jonnie Davis’ appointment as ABC Studios President this past summer.

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Published by Random House on August 13, Inland tells the story of two extraordinary lives that collide in the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life—her husband, a newspaperman who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument.

Nora is biding her time (and enduring her thirst) with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home, and her husband’s seventeen-year-old cousin, who communes with spirits. Lurie is an immigrant—a man born under Ottoman rule who comes to America as a child—and a former outlaw who is haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected companion who inspires a momentous expedition across the West.

Inland, a New York Times bestseller, was a pick on President Obama’s summer reading list. It has been named a best book of summer by Elle, The Week, Time.com, USA Today, Esquire, Town & Country, PopSugar, Bustle, NYLON, Minnesota Public Radio, Thrillist, Alma, LitHub, Bookish, Southern Living and Publishers Weekly.

Obreht’s debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife, was a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction. An international bestseller, it has sold over a million copies worldwide. Obreht was a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and was named by The New Yorker as one of the 20 best American fiction writers under 40.

Obreht is repped by The Gernert Company and Anonymous Content.

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