ICYMI: Amy Adams & Ron Howard Onboard For Netflix's 'Hillbilly Elegy'!

 

Six-time Oscar nominee, Amy Adams, will star in Netflix’s adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy, directed by Ron Howard and based on J.D. Vance's memoir. The 2003 Middletown High School graduate wrote the 2016 best-seller about growing up poor among working-class "hillbillies" in the old steel town. It tells the story of his family and its history of poverty, alcoholism, and other issues they struggled with in life in Kentucky and Ohio.

 

Amy Adams has starred in numerous comedies and drama films and received 2 Golden Globes, 6 Academy Award nominations, and 7 British Academy Film Awards, so her performance in this new film will be just another phenomenal one to add to the books. Even in the last year, she starred in the HBO limited series “Sharp Objects”, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Then she was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Lynne Cheney in the Dick Cheney quasi-biopic Vice.

 

The team consists of Imagine, who acquired the rights to Vance's book in 2017, and Netflix is paying $45 million to finance the film. Vance himself will executive produce the film and the script is adapted by Vanessa Taylor, who was nominated for an Oscar last year with Guillermo del Toro for Best Original Screenplay for The Shape of Water. Factor in the participation of Oscar-winning director Ron Howard and it looks like there’s an incredibly strong team to make this film a great one!

 

The book had mixed reviews of praise and criticism, with conservatives applauding his explanation of Appalachia’s declining culture and liberals saying he blamed poor people for being poor. Vance’s memoir helped readers on the Left and Right on the continuum alike make sense of the setbacks that led many voters to swing for President Trump.

 

With the strong team behind the scenes, a stellar lead actress, and an enticing storyline, Hillbilly Elegy will be a hit for sure.