Hulu has given a series order to Saint X, a drama based on Alexis Schaitkin’s 2020 novel of the same name. Leila Gerstein (Hart of Dixie, The Handmaid’s Tale) is adapting the book, and Dee Rees (Mudbound, Pariah) will direct. The will be an eight-episode drama Produced by ABC.
Saint X will to explore and upend the missing-girl story. The series will be told from multiple perspectives across multiple timelines and examine how a young woman’s mysterious death during an idyllic Caribbean vacation creates a traumatic ripple effect that eventually pulls her surviving sister into a dangerous pursuit of the truth. Schaitkin’s novel also won praise for the way it examined white privilege and media obsession with missing young women.
Gerstein created and executive produced The CW’s Hart of Dixie. Her credits also include Hulu’s Looking for Alaska and The Handmaid’s Tale, TNT’s Claws and FX on Hulu’s Mrs. America.
Rees earned an Oscar nomination (along with Virgil Williams) in 2018 for the screenplay for Mudbound, which she also directed. She co-wrote and directed HBO’s Emmy-winning movie Bessie; her other TV credits include Fox’s Empire and Netflix’s Space Force.
Gerstein and Rees will executive produce Saint X with author Schaitkin, Stephen Williams, Anonymous Content and DreamCrew Entertainment.
The series is the latest literary adaptation for Hulu, which has found success with adapting books including The Handmaid’s Tale, Lindy West’s Shrill, Sally Rooney’s Normal People and Conversations With Friends and Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers.