Amy Adams will star in an adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy from Academy Award-winning director, Ron Howard. According to Variety, Netflix recently closed the deal to include the six-time Oscar-nominated actress in the upcoming production. The film’s script, from Shape of Water screenwriter Vanessa Taylor, will be based on the J.D. Vance best-selling book, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.
Like the memoir, Hillbilly Elegy will explore the modern constructions of American identity and the American dream. The film will follow three generations of an Appalachian family through the eyes of the family’s youngest member, a student at Yale forced to return to his hometown.
Netflix picked up the Hillbilly Elegy finance and distribution rights for $45 million back in January. Since then, production has heated up. Despite the recent controversy over the legitimacy of Netflix as a film distributor, the streaming service continues to attract A-list talent for their cinematic projects.
Adams is coming from an outstanding 2018. In addition to an Oscar nomination for her performance as Lynne Cheney in Adam McKay’s Vice, the actress also won a golden globe for her starring role in the HBO miniseries, Sharp Objects. Netflix has not yet announced when production for Hillbilly Elegy is expected to begin.