Marielle Heller’s neo-horror flick Nightbitch starring Amy Adams is finally a go

No, the proposed film starring Amy Adams as an overworked mother who slowly turns into a dog was not a weird fever dream, but an actual project with legs (and some pointy ears, and a cute little snout). It also has a pretty kick ass title: Nightbitch.

Two years after the project was originally announced with Adams attached, Searchlight Pictures has secured the worldwide rights and a director has been sourced. Marielle Heller, known for her work on The Diary Of A Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and A Wonderful Day In The Neighborhood, takes on the writing and directing duties for Nightbitch.

Nightbitch is an adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s novel of the same name, which focuses on a stay-at-home mother who finds herself stuck in the mind-numbing and exhausting daily toil of raising a child on her own. With her husband frequently away on business trips, she gives herself over to the feral nature of motherhood, becoming “increasingly aware of the bizarre and undeniable signs that she may be turning into a canine.”

“Rachel Yoder‘s book took my breath away,” Heller says in a statement. “I haven’t felt this way about a book since I read The Diary Of A Teenage Girl many years ago. [Rachel’s] darkly hilarious tale of motherhood and rage made me feel seen. And adapting it with Amy Adams in mind has been the thing that has kept me going through the pandemic.”

Searchlight currently plans to release Nightbitch on Hulu, with other possibilities potentially arising. Megan Ellison, Anne Carey, Stacy O’Neil, Christina Oh, Adam Paulsen, Sue Naegle, Heller, and Adams are all on as producers for the film.

Sammy Scher and Havilah Brewster are executive producing. Scher previously worked on other Adams projects, including Her and American Hustle. Brewster served as a producer on Heller’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, and appeared in a small role in Can You Ever Forgive Me?