James Gray knows his next project after “Paper Tiger.” THR reports that Gray will direct “Kill Your Darlings,” an adaptation of Peter Swanson‘s upcoming novel, with Julia Roberts set to star. The project comes from Scott Stuber‘s rebooted United Artists banner via Amazon MGM Studios.
READ MORE: James Gray To Direct ‘Paper Tiger’ Starring Adam Driver, Anne Hathaway & Jeremy Strong
A film adaptation for a book that’s not even out yet? It’s in vogue in Hollywood at the moment; “Sanctuary” director Zachary Wigon is doing the same thing with NEON and Margaret Qualley for “Victorian Psycho,” which only just hit bookstores this week. But “Kill Your Darlings” is a different vehicle than that project: a murder mystery about a married couple and the dark secret that binds them together.
Here’s an official synopsis of Swanson’s novel, courtesy of HarperCollins:
Thom and Wendy Graves have been married for over twenty-five years. They live in a beautiful Victorian on the north shore of Massachusetts. Wendy is a published poet and Thom teaches English literature at a nearby university. Their son, Jason, is all grown up. All is well…except that Wendy wants to murder her husband.
What happens next has everything to do with what happened before. The story of Wendy and Thom’s marriage is told in reverse, moving backward through time to witness key moments from the couple’s lives—their fiftieth birthday party, buying their home, Jason’s birth, the mysterious death of a work colleague—all painting a portrait of a marriage defined by a single terrible act they plotted together many years ago.
No word who will star opposite Roberts in “Kill Your Darlings,” but the actress also produces the film via her Red Om Films banner with Lisa Gillan and Marisa Yeres. The project reunites the Red Om ladies with Stuber after previously working together on Netflix‘s thriller “Leave The World Behind.” The two labels also collaborate on “Panic Carefully,” Sam Esmail‘s upcoming film with Roberts that’s currently shooting in London. Other producers on “Kill Your Darlings” include Tribeca Studios‘ Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh, and Nick Nesbitt via UA. Joel Gotler, Swanson’s agent, executive produces with the author.
“Kill Your Darlings” is one of several projects Stuber has in his production queue to put United Artists back on the Hollywood map. Other upcoming films for the banner include the adult thriller (and another book adaptation) “The Girl In The Lake” with Scarlett Johansson, “Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein” for Netflix, and 20th Century‘s “Deliver Me Form Nowhere,” Scott Cooper‘s Bruce Springsteen drama starring Jeremy Allan White. All three of those films should reach audiences by the time 2025 closes.
As for Gray, he’s only just beginning work on “Paper Tiger,” his crime thriller with Adam Driver, Anne Hathaway, and Jeremy Strong. That film starts shooting any day now, with the outside shot it’ll premiere before the end of the year. But the wiser prediction is that Gray will wait for “Paper Tiger” to have a festival premiere in 2026, so don’t expect “Kill Your Darlings” until mid-2026 or 2027.
