Chloé Zhao, the Oscar-winning director of Nomadland, is set to direct an adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet for Amblin Partners, Hera Pictures, Neal Street Productions and Book of Shadows. Sources confirm that O’Farrell will co-write the script with Zhao.
The novel, a New York Times bestseller, imagines the story of Agnes, wife of William Shakespeare, as she grapples with the loss of their only son, Hamnet. It explores the emotional and artistic fallout of that tragedy, culminating in the creation of Shakespeare’s most famous play, Hamlet.
Hamnet won the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal.
Producers include Liza Marshall of Hera Pictures, and Pippa Harris and Sam Mendes of Neal Street, who previously collaborated on the Oscar-winning 1917. Nic Gonda executive produces for Book of Shadows, while Jeb Brody and Mia Maniscalco oversee for Amblin.
It remains unclear if this will be Zhao’s next project, as she is developing several films following Nomadland and Marvel’s Eternals. Zhao took a break after those back-to-back productions to consider her next move.
