‘The Fields’ Thriller Novel In Works For Television By Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories & Jennifer Todd Pictures

Denise Petski
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Erin Young’s recently published crime thriller The Fields is in the works for the small screen. Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories (Big Little Lies), Jennifer Todd Pictures and Endeavor Content have acquired the rights to the book to adapt into a television series, with Kate Brooke (A Discovery of Witches, Bancroft) attached as writer/showrunner.

Young is the pseudonym of bestselling historical novelist, Robyn Young, and The Fields is her crime thriller debut.

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Per the book’s description: The Fields starts with a body – a young woman found dead in an Iowa cornfield, on one of the few family farms still managing to compete with the giants of Big Agriculture. When Sergeant Riley Fisher, newly promoted to head of investigations for the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, arrives on the scene, an already horrific crime becomes personal when she discovers the victim was a childhood friend, connected to a dark past she thought she’d left behind. The investigation grows complicated as more victims are found. Drawn deeper in, Riley soon discovers implications far beyond her Midwest town.

Young and Brooke will executive produce alongside the Emmy-nominated Todd, Emmy-winning Papandrea and Made Up Stories’ Steve Hutensky and Casey Haver. Made Up Stories and Jennifer Todd Pictures are producing in partnership with Endeavor Content, who brokered the book deal.

Flatiron Books published The Fields in the US, and the UK rights, and a sequel, sold to Hodder & Stoughton in a major 6-figure deal and was published April 28, 2022. US rights for two books were also pre-empted by Zack Wagman at Flatiron Books. German rights were also pre-empted by Piper Verlag with rights so far sold in France (Editions Belfond), Italy (Leone Editore), and Holland (Meulenhoff Boekerij).

“From the moment we read The Fields, we were hooked,” said Papandrea and Todd. “Erin has the incredible ability to weave ripped-from-the-headlines themes like Big Agriculture and political corruption with a heart-pounding, unpredictable murder mystery – and all without sacrificing an exceptionally grounded world. That is precisely why we were all thrilled when Kate Brooke, who masterfully crafts rich characters we want to root for, signed on to adapt. We could not be more excited to be working with this powerhouse team in bringing Erin’s chilling book to screen.”

Young is the pseudonym of historical novelist, Robyn Young, author of eight internationally bestselling novels. She has been published in 19 languages in 22 countries, selling two million books worldwide. Her previous books include The Brethren Trilogy, Insurrection Trilogy and New World Rising. Brooke is repped by WME, The Agency UK and Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz

Brooke adapted and served as showrunner on A Discovery of Witches, season one. She created and served as showrunner on the first two seasons of Bancroft; she wrote on three seasons of Mr Selfridge and served as showrunner for seasons two and three. Other previous credits include The Forsyte Saga, Ice Cream Girls, Secret Smile, The Making of a Lady and Murder in the Outback. Young is represented by WME and Antony Topping of Greene & Heaton Ltd.

Made Up Stories is currently in production on the film adaptation of Jane Harper’s Force of Nature, a follow-up to The Dry, with Eric Bana reprising his role and Robert Connolly directing. They are also in post-production on the film adaptation of Netflix’s Luckiest Girl Alive, based on the novel by Jessica Knoll, starring Mila Kunis, and directed by Mike Barker, that will be released in 2022.

Jennifer Todd Pictures’ credits include Come From Away, The Way Back, City On A Hill, Alice In Wonderland, Incorporated, Across the Universe, Memento, If These Walls Could Talk II and the Austin Powers franchise, among many others.

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