Amazon has greenlit a series adaptation of the Benjamin Stevenson novel “Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone” with Penn Badgley set for the lead role.
Academy Award nominee David Hemingson (“The Holdovers,” “Kitchen Confidential”) is attached to adapt the murder mystery book and serve as showrunner and executive producer, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, and Jeanne Snow of Made Up Stories will also executive produce. Badgley will executive produce in addition to starring, with Stevenson also executive producing. Fifth Season and Made Up Stories will co-produce.
“I’m thrilled to be partnered with Fifth Season and Made Up Stories in bringing Ben’s heartfelt and darkly hilarious whodunit to life,” Hemingson said. “And we are so lucky to have Penn as our lead. I can’t think of any actor better suited to bring Ern’s intensity, brilliance and hilariously dry sense of humor to life.”
Described as darkly comedic, the logline for the series states:
“Set deep in the dense mountains of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the series follows Ern Cunningham (Badgley), a mystery-writing expert who reluctantly attends a family reunion to welcome his brother Michael home from prison — the same brother Ern helped convict. When a frozen body appears and a snowstorm traps everyone inside, the deaths begin to mount. Everyone in his family has already killed someone – either by accident or otherwise.”
A limited series adaptation of the book was previously in development at HBO in 2022 with Made Up Stories and Fifth Season (then Endeavor Content) producing, though it ultimately did not go forward.
“We’re beyond excited to bring Ben’s sensational book to life in Dave Hemingson’s brilliant hands” said Papandrea and Hutensky. “We’ve found the perfect ‘Ern’ in Penn and it’s a dream to be making this series with our amazing partners Amazon MGM Studios and Fifth Season.”
Badgley is no stranger to murder and intrigue in television. He previously starred as the killer Joe Goldberg in the hit Netflix series “You” for five seasons, with that show airing its final season in 2025. He also previously played a major role in the hit CW drama “Gossip Girl.” His other TV roles include “The Slap” and “The Young and the Restless.” In film, Badgley will star in the upcoming Amazon MGM Studios romcom “You Deserve Each Other” opposite Meghann Fahy. That film is also based on a book and is also produced by Fifth Season. Badgley has previously been in films like “Easy A” and “Margin Call.”
“I am blown away by the vision and enthusiasm everyone has for bringing this book, and Ernest Cunningham, to the screen,” said Stevenson. “Penn perfectly captures Ern’s clueyness and cleverness, and David has brought bags of wit and heart to the script. With the passion of Amazon MGM Studios, Bruna and Steve behind us we have an absolutely killer team, and I can’t wait to solve a murder with them!”
“Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone” was originally published by Mariner Books in 2022 and was a bestseller in Australia in by Penguin Random House in 2021. It is the first in the Ernest Cunningham book series, followed by “Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect,” “Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret,” and “Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief.” Stevenson is currently writing the fifth book.
“’Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone’ is a brilliantly inventive series that subverts the murder mystery genre in the most unexpected and entertaining ways,” said Peter Friedlander, head of global television at Amazon MGM Studios. “Ben created a world that is darkly funny and wickedly clever. Paired with David’s sharp storytelling and Penn’s magnetic presence, and with our incredible partners at Fifth Seasom and Made Up Stories, this series is going to be something truly special for Prime Video.”
This series also marks the latest Fifth Season-Made Up Stories project based on a book. The two companies have previosuly collaborated on shows like “The Good Daughter” at Paeocck, “Nine Perfect Strangers” at Hulu, “Anatomy of a Scandal” at Netflix, and “The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart” at Prime Video.
Badgley is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners, CAA, The Lede Company, and Hansen Jacobson. Hemingson is repped by 3 Arts, WME, and McKuin Frankel & Whitehead. Stevenson is repped by Intellectual Property Group & Curtis Brown Australia.
