Sadie Sink in Talks to Star in A24's The Guest Adaptation

Sadie Sink is in talks to star in and produce The Guest, a planned film version of Emma Cline's bestselling novel for A24 and Square Peg.

The project is still at the dealmaking stage. A24 and Square Peg are in negotiations to adapt the book, with Sink in talks to lead the cast and join as a producer alongside Square Peg, according to Deadline, which first reported the news.

Lorene Scafaria is in talks to direct the adaptation, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She is also in talks to write the screenplay, which in film terms means shaping the novel into a shooting script.

Nothing is signed. In Hollywood language, "in talks" means conversations are under way but contracts are not closed.

Cline's novel was published in 2023 by Penguin Random House. It centres on a calculating young grifter trying to talk and charm her way through a summer in the Hamptons, the wealthy beach district east of New York City.

The book arrived with weight behind it. It was longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award, an American fiction prize, and chosen as a Belletrist Book Club pick. It was also named a best book of the year by The New Yorker, Time and NPR.

For readers new to the story, that record helps explain the screen interest. A tight summer novel built around one slippery main character can travel well to film, where a small cast and a strong location do a lot of work.

For fans, this means waiting. A writer-director attachment usually comes before casting fills out, locations are locked and a shoot date is set. No release date or production timetable has been announced.

If the deals close, the next steps would be a script, further casting and a production plan. Until then, Sink and Scafaria remain attached in talks only, not confirmed.