Playwrights Jeremy O. Harris (2020 Tony nominee for Slave Play) and Aziza Barnes (BLKS) have been tapped to adapt Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half for HBO, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The two writers will also executive produce the new series based on the best-selling novel along with writer Bennett, Issa Rae (Insecure), Academy Awards producer Stephanie Allain and Gabrielle Ebron for Homegrown Pictures; and Montrel McKay and Sara Rastogi for Hoorae.
Published in 2020, The Vanishing Half concerns identical twins who leave their southern Black community as teenagers. A decade later, the lives of the two sisters, separated by miles and lies, are completely different, yet their fates remain intertwined.
"Reading The Vanishing Half was and is an exacting call to my family's history—one of passing for white, legends so tall as to be myths, and wounds that last several generations," Barnes said in a statement. "Beyond feeling compelled to adapt this world that I knew viscerally, to then be able to craft its coming to life with a dear friend, chosen family, is a gift beyond measure. Working with Jeremy is a delight and dedication to making art in the medium of television that grips and moves me, moves us both. I'm hype."
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Added Harris, "One of the few highlights of 2020 was the evening I spent on my birthday curled on my couch screaming at Stella Vignes, 'How could you' so loudly my neighbor thought something was wrong. To know that I get the privilege to collaborate with Brit and one of my favorite playwrights Aziza in translating that moment to millions around the world is an honor. In many ways knowing that my 'twin' in this journey gets to be a playwright with whom I shared a debut season and a debut director makes this all the more special because the secret language of siblings seems to already pass between us throughout this process."
Barnes is also developing Pride, an updated version of Pride and Prejudice, for HBO, while Harris has a two-year deal with the network.
