Apple TV+ landed the straight-to-series order for “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” from showrunner David E. Kelley and starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning.
The series will feature Fanning (“The Great,” Broadway’s “Appropriate,” upcoming James Mangold film “A Complete Unknown”) in the lead role, alongside the Emmy-winning actress Kidman (“Big Little Lies,” “Nine Perfect Strangers,” “Expats”) with both serving as executive producers.
Hailng from A24, the eight-episode drama series will be adapted from Rufi Thorpe’s widely anticipated novel, which is set to publish in June 2024 by William Morrow.
According to Thorpe’s website, the book is summarized as follows: “Margo Millet’s got money troubles. As the child of a Hooters waitress and ex pro wrestler, she’s always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living.”
Margo has a brief affair with an English professor and gets pregnant, but despite everyone telling her to terminate the pregnancy, she decides to keep the baby “mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.”
The plot thickens when her estranged father, Jinx, asks to move in with her and she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. She also develops a plan to start an OnlyFans. Her father’s wrestling advice also comes in handy to rocket her to internet fame.
The project will be produced for Apple TV+ by A24. Kelley (“Big Little Lies,” “Nine Perfect Strangers,” and “Presumed Innocent”) will serve as showrunner and writer, and will executive produce alongside Elle Fanning, Dakota Fanning and Brittany Kahan Ward for Lewellen Pictures; Kidman and Per Saari of Blossom Films; and, Matthew Tinker and Checka Propper for David E. Kelley Productions. Thorpe will also executive produce.
The series marks the latest collaboration between Apple TV+ and Kelley, who recently served as showrunner on “Presumed Innocent,” the highly anticipated limited series from Kelley and executive produced by J.J. Abrams and Dustin Thomason. “Presumed Innocent” is based on the acclaimed book of the same name by Scott Turow. Adapted for the screen by Kelley and inspired by Scott Turow’s beloved courtroom thriller, “Presumed Innocent” stars Jake Gyllenhaal in a story of a horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorneys’ office when one of employees is suspected of the crime.
Thorpe’s previous novels include “The Knockout Queen,” “Dear Fang, With Love” and “The Girls From Corona Del Mar.” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” will arrive June 11, 2024.
