After a large bidding war of 17 interested parties, the premium network HBO has won the rights to adapt the novel The Vanishing Half into series, according to Deadline. The deal, via sources at Deadline, is reportedly in the seven figures range at the conclusion of the auction for the bestselling novel. The novel was written by Brit Bennett (The Mothers) and was published in early June 2020 before quickly rising to the top of the New York Times bestseller’s list. Bennett is best known for her first novel The Mothers was also on the bestseller list and is currently in the works to be adapted for the big screen with Kerry Washington (Scandal) in addition to the novelist contributing essays for The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The New York Times Magazine.
The novel that was acquired by HBO follows the story of the Vignes twin sisters that have recently run away from their tight-knit black community at the age of sixteen. After this instance, the novel leaps forward to ten years later. In present day, one of the twin sisters returned to the community and town that raised her in order to raise her daughter while the other sister married and hides her racial identity from her husband and the new community she has surrounded herself with.
Currently, there is no announced cast nor showrunner for the newly acquired HBO series. Additionally, it is unclear whether this upcoming adaptation television series will join the ranks of HBO’s lineup or the recently launched Warner Media streaming service HBO Max.