Marlene King brings Elle Kennedy’s 'Thornbird' to Hulu as new thriller series

Hulu is developing a television adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s novel Thornbird, with Pretty Little Liars creator Marlene King attached as writer and executive producer.

The upcoming Hulu series is being developed by 20th Television and will be based on Kennedy’s coming-of-age thriller, which centres on a teenager attempting to escape the shadow of her family’s dark past.

The story follows 17-year-old Ryan Shipley, whose father, Gabriel Thorn, is an infamous serial killer. Ten years after his arrest, Ryan returns to her childhood hometown of Starling, Tennessee, hoping to build a normal life without revealing her identity or connection to her father.

As Ryan tries to fit in, she also hopes to experience a typical teenage life and potentially fall in love. However, her family history continues to follow her as she becomes caught up in a mystery involving the crimes of her past.

Kennedy will executive produce the Hulu adaptation alongside King and Lauren Wagner. Thornbird is the first novel Kennedy has published under the pseudonym E. Kennedy and debuted on the New York Times bestseller list following its June 30 release.

Kennedy is also the author of the Off Campus book series, which has been adapted into a television series for Prime Video. The first season premiered in May and reportedly reached 36 million viewers worldwide within its first 12 days. A second season is currently in production.

Another Kennedy novel, Girl Abroad, is also in development for television at Amazon, with A24 Television and Sorry for Your Loss creator Kit Steinkellner attached.

King is best known for creating and showrunning Pretty Little Liars, which ran for seven seasons on Freeform. Her other credits include Now & Then, Just My Luck and Famous in Love.