TV legend Ryan Murphy has set his next series, starring Kaia Gerber. The executive producer is in early development on “The Shards” for FX, based on a novel by Bret Easton Ellis.
The prep school thriller series has also attached “American Horror Story” director Max Winkler to direct the FX series according to multiple media reports. Winkler has previously worked with Murphy on his other series, “Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and “Grotesquerie.”
“The Shards” will be produced by 20th Television alongside Ryan Murphy Television. Murphy, Ellis and Winkler will executive produce the series with Nick Hall, Kathleen McCaffrey and Brian Young.
FX and 20th Television declined to comment on the news. Before selling to FX, Ellis attempted to produce a different version of the series to HBO back in 2023.
“The Shards” was first released as an audiobook before officially releasing in physical book form in 2023. The semi-autobiographical book follows a 17-year-old version of Ellis in his senior year at Buckley prep school in 1981. When a mysterious new student Robert Mallory comes to campus, Ellis believes that he may have something to do with the activities of a serial killer nearby, known as The Trawler.
The novel is set in the 1980s at an elite prep school in Los Angeles with kids indulging in drugs, lavish parties and luxury cars, while a horrifying serial killer looms in their midst.
This is not Gerber’s first time working with Murphy. She has previously appeared in both “American Horror Story” and “American Horror Stories.” She has most recently appeared in the Prime Video comedy “Overcompensating” and Max’s “Hacks.”
“The Shards” is yet another series under Murphy’s 20th Television deal. Other new series coming up from the executive producer include “9-1-1: Nashville” on ABC, “All’s Fair” starring Kim Kardashian for Hulu and “American Love Story” and “The Beauty” for FX.
Deadline was first to report the news.
