Fans are waiting desperately to get a peek at The Handmaid's Tale Season 4, but since that's likely not coming in the immediately future, this news should suffice. Bruce Miller, the creator of The Handmaid’s Tale, has a new TV show on the horizon, and like his ongoing Hulu series, it is based on another disturbing book titled These Women.
You likely haven't gotten a chance to read it yet, though, and for a good reason: it just came out on May 19. No matter, though, as Ivy Pochoda’s novel These Women is already set to get the TV adaptation treatment by The Handmaid’s Tale’s creator. Given the development process is just starting, there is no word on any premiere plans or casting. However, if adapted true to form by The Handmaid’s Tale’s Bruce Miller, this new thriller could be home to quite the ensemble.
These Women is a thriller about a quintet of women whose varying lives are intertwined and connected by a frightening common denominator – a serial killer. Two murders occur in the Los Angeles neighborhood of West Adams where the women live, which shakes things up immensely. Among the five women is Dorian, who is the still-rattled mother of a murder victim, as well as a young dancer named Julianna (and nicknamed Jujubee), an analytical vice cop named Essie, an envelope-pushing performance artist named Marella, and the quiet and introverted Anneke. They all find themselves in danger, and will presumably come together at some point to target the local killer.
Bruce Miller will reportedly oversee the development of the adaptation as a producer, and the MGM/UA TV project will bring in someone else to take on an official capacity as writer. News of These Women getting the TV adaptation treatment comes well after word of another Miller-fronted project was revealed.
Late last year, it was announced that Bruce Miller would be working to bring Margaret Atwood's The Testaments to the small screen at Hulu. The novel is a sequel to the brutal The Handmaid’s Tale, taking place 15 years after the events of the original tome.
These Women's announcement comes on the heels of true crime picking up significant steam in recent years. From the Bravo-turned-USA series Dirty John series to Tiger King to Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, there has been a lot of crime-related content to get obsessed with. To the point where these kinds of fictional TV thrillers are becoming more few and far between.
Hulu will be heading into the scripted sector of the genre with its upcoming gambit. That said, These Women’s author Ivy Pochoda told the Los Angeles Times that the book does have a real-life basis, saying it is “loosely based” on the real-life serial killer known as the “Grim Sleeper.”
Having the hand of The Handmaid’s Tale’s creator behind it should only strengthen the buzz surrounding These Women. For those still mulling over questions as they await Season 4 of the Hulu series after its polarizing third season, news of These Women should provide (blessed) fruit for thought.
The Emmy-award winning series will thankfully be back one day, though, and now the creator has another TV show lined up to follow it, even though it's quite hard to tell when the production might start up. Numerous series were forced to cease production in recent months along with so many other industries. In the Czech Republic, filming has been given the green-light to begin getting underway again while using the proper guidelines. For now, The Handmaid’s Tale creator can start getting These Women ready behind the scenes. A writer still needs to get to work on the adaptation, among other additions, so there are things to be done.
The Handmaid’s Tale is currently streaming on Hulu, with a premiere date for Season 4 is still pending. While you wait for the Hulu series’ fourth season and the premiere of the These Women adaptation, you can check out this summer’s premieres.
