If you were in any doubt of the mighty buzz that’s already building around The Maid (HarperCollins / HarperFiction) by Nita Prose, you’ll want to make a note of this  – film industry heavyweights, Universal Pictures, will be bringing the book to life on-screen!

After an incredibly memorable summer, in which the book sold to US imprint Penguin Random House / Ballantine in a record-breaking sum for the Agency, and subsequently sold into a collective 20 territories, interest in a screen adaptation has been growing. Beating out intense competition, Universal Pictures won Film/TV rights in a phenomenal deal brokered by ICM Partners on behalf of the MM Agency. Josh McLaughlin and Chris Goldberg are producing through their companies Wink Pictures and Winterlight Pictures, respectively, and Nita Prose will serve as Executive Producer on the project.

Excitingly, the starring role of Molly will be played by Academy Award® and BAFTA Nominee Florence Pugh, who will also be serving as Executive Producer, and whose credits include Little Women, Marvel’s 2021 release Black Widow, and Don’t Worry Darling, the upcoming film directed by Olivia Wilde. Universal’s Senior Vice President of Production Jeyun Munford and Creative Executive Christine Sun will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.

The Maid is a charmingly quirky murder-mystery, which will be released in 2022. It follows Molly, a hotel maid, as she is thrown into the middle of a unsolved homicide whilst on duty:

Molly is used to being invisible in her job at the Regency Grand Hotel, tidying the guests’ messes and sweeping up their secrets, until she discovers an infamous wealthy guest, Mr Black, dead in his bed.

And so she’s thrown into a Cluedo-style hunt for the truth, learning who to trust in a world where people often take advantage of her difference.

Wink Pictures was founded by Josh McLaughlin, formerly President of Production at Focus Features, in 2019.  Josh has a host of projects currently in the pipeline, including a film project with Lulu Wang, an adaptation of the podcast Bagman with Ben Stiller directing, and a film about the relationship between Carol Burnett and her daughter Carrie, that he is producing alongside Carol and Tina Fey.

Winterlight Pictures was launched by Chris Goldberg in 2019. Chris began his career as a literary scout for 20th Century Fox; whilst there, he was involved in acquiring rights to the box-office hits Gone Girl, The Martian, and The Fault In Our Stars. 

Nita Prose is Vice President/Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster in Canada and has worked at several publishing houses during her career.

The Maid is primed for tremendous success, and we can’t wait to share more developments – watch this space!