Ron Howard’s “Hillbilly Elegy” Adaptation is Coming to Netflix

Ron Howard. Photo by Erik Pendzich/REX/Shutterstock (8623040p)

It looks like Netflix is already eyeing its big feature release Roma’s Alfonso Cuarón style.

Deadline reports that the streaming giant has outbid (and then some!) its rivals for the film adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy. The project was snagged by Netflix for no less than a whopping $45 million, a sum which some speculate includes a theatrical release allowance.  According to the outlet, Netflix outbid rivals by almost double.

Based on J.D. Vance’s memoir titled, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis the film will tell Vance’s story of growing up poor in the Rust Belt. Vance, with the support of his grandmother, Vance navigated life’s challenges and struggles and developed an appreciation for education, became a venture capitalist and, of course, a successful author.

The project is helmed by Ron Howard who will be directing from a script penned by Vanessa Taylor (The Shape Of Water co-writer). Imagine Entertainment secured the movie rights to the memoir in 2017.