Netflix’s movie adaptation of J.D. Vance’s memoir Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis has landed its first cast member. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amy Adams has signed on to star in the project which will be directed by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind).
Vanessa Taylor, who co-wrote the Academy Award-winning feature Shape of Water, will write the screenplay. J.D. Vance will take part in the film as an executive producer.
Hillbilly Elegy was released in June 2016 and managed to reach the top of The New York Times Best Seller list. The book talks about three generations of his family and their Appalachian values through the eyes of Vance, a Yale law student who returns to his hometown of Middletown, Ohio. It tackles numerous themes including trauma, poverty, drug abuse, and alcoholism.
Besides Hillbilly Elegy, Amy Adams has several other projects lined up for the future including reprising her role of Giselle from 2007’s musical fantasy Enchanted in its upcoming sequel Disenchanted. Adams will also star as the lead in movie adaptation of Joe Wright’s The Woman in the Window, which is set for release on October 4, 2019.
