MGM Television Develops 'Bourbon & Lies' Series with Sophia Stallone and Sylvester Stallone's Balboa Productions
MGM Television is developing a television adaptation of Bourbon & Lies, the bestselling romantic suspense novel by Victoria Wilder, according to an exclusive report from Deadline.
The project brings together two Stallone-led production companies. Sophia Stallone's Callisto Media and Sylvester Stallone's Balboa Productions will produce, with D. Matt Geller overseeing for Balboa. Sophia Stallone originated the project for television and brought the book rights — what the industry calls IP, or intellectual property — to Balboa Productions.
The novel sits at the centre of Wilder's "Bourbon Boys" series, set in the fictional town of Fiasco, Kentucky. It follows Grant Foxx, an ex-cop, and Laney Young, a stranger whose arrival upends his life. Bourbon & Lies was released with Bloom Books in 2024 and reached No. 1 on Amazon. Wilder has since sold international rights to the Bourbon Boys books in more than a dozen territories and launched a spin-off series, The Whiskey Women, with Rumors & Whiskey in June.
Meredith Lavender and Marcie Ulin are the creators and executive producers of the television adaptation. The pair showran — meaning they served as head writers and ran the production — the first season of HBO Max's The Flight Attendant, starring Kaley Cuoco. Lavender and Ulin are under a first-look deal with MGM Television, meaning the studio gets first dibs on any projects they develop.
Balboa Productions and Sophia Stallone are represented by Independent Artist Group and the law firm Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo. In January 2026, Amazon MGM Studios renewed a multiyear first-look film and television deal with Balboa Productions, keeping Sylvester Stallone's company housed within the Amazon MGM orbit for future film and TV projects (Deadline).
Wilder, a contemporary romance author based in Connecticut, writes across subgenres including small-town romance, romantic suspense, and holiday romance. The Bourbon Boys series extends beyond Bourbon & Lies to titles including The Foxx and The Riggs, giving the adaptation multiple books to draw from if the series moves forward.
No network, streaming platform, or release window has been announced. The project is in development, which means a script is being written and a package assembled — but no greenlight to film has been given. Most projects at this stage either secure a platform order or never reach production.
What makes this stand out is the family connection. Sophia Stallone, one of Sylvester Stallone's daughters, is the one who found the property and brought it to her father's company. The elder Stallone's Balboa Productions, fresh off its renewed Amazon MGM deal, now has a second generation helping steer its television slate.
