EXCLUSIVE: Emma Cline’s bestselling novel The Guest, looks to be headed to the big screen as Deadline is hearing A24 and Square Peg are in negotiations for rights to the book, with Sadie Sink in talks to star in and Lorene Scafaria in talks to write and direct a feature film. Sink will also produce alongside Square Peg.
Published in 2024 by Penguin Random House, the novel follows a calculating grifter who navigates the treacherous world of summer in the Hamptons. The book was longlisted for the Pen/Faulkner Award, and was named a Belletrist Book Club pick and a best book of the year by the New Yorker, Time, NPR, the Washington Post, Financial Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Vogue, Glamour, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping and more.
Studios and stars have been chasing rights since The Guest hit shelves, with Sink being among its biggest fans. When word got rights were hitting the market over the summer, sources say Sink moved fast and quickly attached herself to the package, with Scafaria joining shortly after.
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Insiders say there were around 12 other buyers in the mix for the auction, but ultimately the Sink-Scafaria package from A24 and Square Peg won out. The studio is now in exclusive negotiations for rights.
With her series Stranger Things coming to an end this past winter, Sink has hit the ground running with the next stage of her career, recently starring as Jean Grey opposite Tom Holland in the record-breaking Spider-Man: Brand New Day. She is set to reprise the role in the upcoming Marvel pic X-Men, which begins production at the top of the year.
Scarfaria is best known for her Lionsgate drama Hustlers, starring Jennifer Lopez. She also directed a handful ofepisodes of HBO’s Emmy-winning Succession.
Sink is repped by WME and Peikoff Mahan. Scarfaria is repped by UTA and Sloane Offer Dern Weber.
