If ‘Normal People’, the new BBC drama based on Sally Rooney’s novel of the same name, has been keeping you going during lockdown, we have good news. Another of Rooney’s stories is about to be turned into a TV show.
We’re not talking about a follow up to Marianne and Connell’s love story (though it might not be off the cards and *spoiler* the open-ended final episode certainly allows for it). We’re talking about her also-incredibly-popular debut novel ‘Conversations with Friends’, which was published in 2017.
Asked whether fans could expect a ‘Normal People’ sequel, the show’s co-producer Ed Guiney recently told Heart: ‘Not in the short term. We’ve turned our attention – we’re adapting “Conversations with Friends” as a television series.’
Now, the news is official: Hulu just announced a straight-to-series order on the book. Expect 12 half-hour episodes, produced by Element Pictures in association with BBC Three. No word yet on who will star in the show.
Although Rooney's two books aren't directly connected, they deal with similar themes. ‘Conversations with Friends’ follows two students – Frances and Bobbi – while they are at university in Dublin.
‘It's the same basic team,’ continued Guiney. ‘Lenny (Abrahamson) is going to direct it and is across it as an executive producer. And Alice Birch and all of us at Element Pictures. That's what we'll be turning our attention to next.
‘But maybe down the line we'll come back to Connell and Marianne,’ he teased.
While waiting on the show to be filmed and drop, why not rent Marianne’s Italian villa on Airbnb?
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