Norman Reedus and his production company, bigbaldhead, are developing the live-action AMC series “Neglected Murderesses,” based on the book by Edward Gorey, Variety has learned exclusively.
Reedus will executive produce the project along with bigbaldhead’s JoAnne Colona and Amanda Verdon under the company’s recently announced first-look deal with AMC Studios.
According to an individual with knowledge of the project, the team has been pursuing the rights to “Neglected Murderesses” for several years. It marks the first time the Edward Gorey Estate has allowed for an adaptation of the late author’s work. Furthermore, the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust has pledged that all profits earned from the series will be donated to a number of animal welfare organizations, given Gorey’s fondness for animals. The organizations include The Elephant Sanctuary, The International Fund for Animal Welfare, The National Marine Life Center, and many more.
“Neglected Murderesses” is described as a black comedy that tells the story of twelve enterprising, fictitious female killers, who use particularly unique methods to off their victims. Among them are: Nurse J. Rosebeetle, “who tilted her employer out of a wheelchair and over a cliff at Sludgemouth in 1898,” Mrs. Fledaway, who “laced her husband’s tea with atropine in the spring of 1903,” and Miss Q. P. Urkheimer, who “brained her fiancé after failing to pick up an easy spare at Glover’s Lanes.”
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Gorey was a prolific writer, illustrator, and designer. His pen-and-ink drawings were famous for their Victorian and Edwardian imagery as well as their macabre sense of humor. His work has influenced a wide range of other authors and artists, including Lemony Snickett, Wes Anderson, Tim Burton, and Neal Gaiman.
Reedus has a longstanding relationship with AMC thanks to his tenure on the network’s hit series “The Walking Dead.” He is set to join fellow “Walking Dead” original cast member Melissa McBride in their own spinoff when the mothership show ends after Season 11. He also currently hosts the travel docuseries “Ride With Norman Reedus” on AMC, which aired its fourth season last year with a fifth on the way.
He is repped by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
