Hulu Developing Thornbird Adaptation From Marlene King

Hulu is developing a television adaptation of Thornbird, Elle Kennedy's bestselling thriller, with Pretty Little Liars creator Marlene King on board to write.

The project is set up at 20th Television, according to Deadline. It is still in development, meaning Hulu has not yet ordered it to series.

The story centres on 17-year-old Ryan Shipley. She returns to her childhood hometown of Starling, Tennessee. Ryan is the daughter of infamous serial killer Gabriel Thorn, who was caught ten years earlier.

The book is billed as a coming-of-age thriller about a girl at the centre of her own true-crime mystery. Thornbird was published on 30 June and debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list. It was the first title Kennedy released under the pseudonym E. Kennedy.

King will write the adaptation and serve as executive producer, meaning she will oversee the creative direction of the show. Kennedy will also executive produce alongside King and Lauren Wagner. 20th Television is the studio behind the project.

King previously developed the Freeform series Pretty Little Liars, based on the Sara Shepard book series, and served as its showrunner. Kennedy is the author of the Off Campus book series, which was adapted for television at Prime Video. Her novel Girl Abroad is also in development for television at Netflix from writer Kit Steinkellner.

For fans, this means two familiar names are pairing up. One built a long-running teen mystery. The other writes romance bestsellers with a large online following. This time the focus is darker: a teenager living in the shadow of her father's crimes.