‘Sometimes I Lie’ Limited Series Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar & Produced By Ellen DeGeneres Lands At Fox

DEADLINE – Fox has given a script commitment plus penalty to Sometimes I Lie, a limited series starring and executive produced by Buffy the Vampire Slayer alumna Sarah Michelle Gellar. The project, based on former BBC journalist Alice Feeney’s debut novel, hails from Oscar-nominated writer Robin Swicord (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Ellen DeGeneres’ A Very Good Production, Warner Bros TV where the company is based, and Fox Entertainment.

Penned by Swicord, Sometimes I Lie stars Gellar as Amber Reynolds, who is in a coma. She can’t remember how she got there, but she knows it wasn’t an accident. Terrified and trapped in her own body, she tries to piece together her memories of the last week. With a husband who no longer loves her, a sister hiding a dangerous secret, and an ex-boyfriend who can’t let go of her, Amber knows someone is lying – and that her life is still very much in danger. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from 20 years ago, this psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it’s the truth?

Swicord executive produces with Gellar and A Very Good Production’s DeGeneres and Jeff Kleeman.

WBTV optioned the book on behalf of A Very Good Production, and the limited series adaptation was put in development at the studio in January with Gellar attached to star and EP and Swicord  to pen the adaptation.

Sometimes I Lie is an international bestseller released in March 2017 by HQ/HarperCollins in the UK and Flatiron/Macmillan in the U.S. The book has been published in over 20 countries.

Fox is all-in on Gellar this season. In addition to landing Sometimes I Lie, the network is developing Other People’s Houses, a dramedy starring and executive produced by the Ringer alumna, from Ringer creators Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, Neil Meron, Universal TV and Fox Entertainment. It is also  based on a book.

Sometimes I Lie also marks a new step in the expansion of A Very Good Production. It would be the first limited/drama series for the company, which has produced a couple of comedy series, most recently ABC’s Splitting Up Together; and a number of reality series, including NBC hits Little Big Shots and Ellen’s Game of Games, which are returning early next year. Additionally, A Very Good Production has animated series Green Eggs and Ham on Netflix and recently received an order from HBO Max for four new series: Ellen’s Home Design Challenge, Little Ellen, First Dates Hotel and Finding Einstein.

Feeney is repped by ICM Partners, Curtis Brown Group and Markham, Froggatt and Irwin in the UK. Gellar, who also starred on the CBS comedy series The Crazy Ones, is repped by ICM Partners, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Morris Yorn.