Anne Hathaway to Star in and Produce Limited Series FEAR NOT at Paramount+ With Bash Doran Adapting
Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada, Les Miserables) has signed on to star in and produce the limited series Fear Not at Paramount+. The six-part show is being adapted by writer Bash Doran (Boardwalk Empire), and is based on the 2023 Vanity Fair article “True Crime, True Faith: The Serial Killer and the Texas Mom Who Stopped Him.”
Written by Doran, Fear Not tells the story of prolific serial killer Stephen Morin — accused of more crimes than Ted Bundy — and the unlikely bond he formed with Margy Palm (Hathaway), the last woman he ever kidnapped.
Morin’s abduction of Palm, which started as a deadly captive situation, took an unlikely turn; one which included compassion, prayer, and profound courage. Palm’s devotion to her faith and her insistence that Morin could be transformed, became the impetus of a relationship that lasted long after Palm was returned to safety — until Morin received the death penalty.
Fear Not‘s path to the screen started in October 2023 with a heated bidding war for the rights to VF’s article, which appeared in the magazine’s September print issue under the headline “Sympathy For the Devil.”
It was won for MGM Television by studio-based Toluca Pictures after partnering with Hathaway’s Somewhere Pictures. Doran was brought in as a writer for the project, which was initially set up for script development at MGM Television’s sibling Prime Video under the previous Amazon MGM Studios regime.
After the streamer opted not to proceed with Fear Not, the package — now including a finished pilot script by Doran — was taken out. It was pursued by two major streamers. Paramount+ ultimately prevailed, putting the project on fast-track development and commissioning a pilot script rewrite, a backup script and a bible for the series.
It took awhile for deals to close between the Amazon-owned MGM Television and the Paramount streamer. In the meantime, development continued in the background, with all the materials delivered in December.
This sounds like a fascinating story. Stay tuned for updates as Fear Not moves into production.
via: Deadline