Six months ago, it was announced that prolific producer Ryan Murphy was developing a series adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel The Shards for FX, with Kaia Gerber (American Horror Story) attached to star. Since then, we’ve learned that Igby Rigney (The Midnight Club), Graham Campbell (Late Fame), pop singer Hayes Warner, and newcomer Homer Gere are also in the cast. Now, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter have broken the news that they’re being joined by Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld), Wes Bentley (Yellowstone), and Jordan Roth, a Tony Award-winning producer.
Details on the characters Gerber, Wood, Bentley, and Roth will be playing have not been revealed, but we do know that Rigney is playing a young Bret Easton Ellis, Gere is Robert Mallory, and Campbell is Thom Wright. Warner is playing Debbie Shaffer, “a rich prep school girl with the right connects.”
The series will be directed by Max Winkler, who has worked on many Murphy projects. He has been at the helm of episodes of American Horror Story, American Horror Stories, The Watcher, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Grotesquerie, and Monster: The Ed Gein Story.
The Shards is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale which follows a 17-year-old version of Ellis during his final year at Buckley prep school. When the enigmatic new student Robert Mallory arrives on campus, Ellis suspects he might be connected to the nearby serial killer known as The Trawler. The story, which is set in “a vibrantly fictionalized Los Angeles in 1981,” was initially released on Ellis’ Patreon in 2020 as a serialized audiobook, but was published as a novel in 2023.
The Shards was previously in development at HBO, with Luca Guadagnino (Challengers) and Kristoffer Borgli (Dream Scenario) each considering directing the project. There were even rumblings that Jacob Elordi (Saltburn) was being eyed to star, but it ultimately fell apart due to creative differences. The Ryan Murphy / FX take on the concept is now filming, and Gerber and Gere have already been spotted on set.
Are you interested in The Shards? What do you think of the cast that has been assembled for the show? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
