Maybe “Sharp Objects” isn’t over after all.
Marti Noxon teased a potential follow up to her HBO series based on Gillian Flynn’s novel Saturday at SXSW in Austin, Texas. “Maybe there will be a sequel, maybe we’ll get to find out [more about Adora and Camille’s sister],” she told the crowd, according to a recap from The Observer. “Gillian and I have thoughts on it.”
That would be an about-face from what Noxon told critics last summer, when she said there would be only one season of the Amy Adams-starring drama. “We’re not talking about a Season 2,” she said during the Television Critics Association Summer 2018 Press Tour. “This is it, so bask in it while you can.”
The eight-episode drama centered on reporter Camille Preaker (Adams) who returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Eventually, she finds herself identifying with the girls too much. The first season was based on Flynn’s debut novel of the same name, so an additional season would have taken the series off-book.
While “Sharp Objects” is a limited series, it wouldn’t be unprecedented to add on a second season. After all, critical darling “Big Little Lies” was originally billed as a limited series before HBO added a second season, which added Meryl Streep and will debut this summer. When TheWrap spoke one-on-one with HBO programming chief Casey Bloys he told us why the premium cabler agrees one season is enough for this TV adaptation of a beloved novel — and “Big Little Lies” got a Season 2.
“No, no,” Bloys said, to a possible sophomore season. “I’ll tell you the difference. For ‘Big Little Lies,’ Reese [Witherspoon], Nicole [Kidman], Laura [Dern], Shailene [Woodley], and Zoe [Kravitz] — they all wanted to do it again. This is very, as you know the show is dark, and Amy’s character is very dark. It’s a difficult role for an actress to play. I believe she doesn’t want to play that character again, which I completely understand. It’s a lot to take on, and without her I just don’t see. I think this is one where you gotta say, ‘We got a fantastic limited series, and we’ll leave it at that.’”