Heyday Television Buys Gillian McAllister’s ‘Just Another Missing Person’; Screenwriter Georgia Pritchett To Adapt Novel For TV

EXCLUSIVE: Heyday Television has acquired adaptation rights to Gillian McAllister’s novel Just Another Missing Person.

After what’s been described as a “highly competitive situation,” British screenwriter Georgia Pritchett (Succession, Veep) will adapt the story for TV. It’s another example of how hot the book-to-TV market is right now, with Heyday’s parent Universal International Studios among the most active in the space.

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Heyday founder and Academy Award-nominated producer David Heyman, whose credits include the Harry Potter films, Barbie and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, will executive produce alongside Pritchett, McAllister and Sue Gibbs.

Just Another Missing Person follows Julia, a detective brought in to investigate the high-profile disappearance of a young woman. However, the simple case quickly becomes complicated when a mysterious stranger blackmails Julia into framing a seemingly innocent person for the crime. Julia is forced to choose between getting to the truth of the case, or protecting her own daughter.

The story, billed by critics as a ‘whydunnit,’ published in August last year by Penguin Random House in the UK and in the U.S. by HarperCollins. Its author, McAllister has previously written novels such as Everything But The Truth, Anything You Do Say, No Further Questions, The Evidence Against You, How to Disappear and That Night, Wrong Place Wrong Time.

“I’m so honoured that the superlative Heyday Television, Universal International Studios and Georgia Pritchett have teamed up to work on the adaptation of Just Another Missing Person,” she said. “Truly, sometimes I think I am dreaming.”

Heyday, which is part of Universal Studio Group-owned Universal International Studios, was behind recent Peacock limited series Apples Never Fall, which has sold to the BBC in the UK. Other credits include two seasons of British drama The Capture. It is currently in development on The Push, a novel from Ashley Audrain.

“Gillian McAllister is an extraordinary storyteller, and Just Another Missing Person is a shining example of exactly that,” said Heyman. “It’s a provocative and gripping thriller filled with emotionally engaging characters, deliciously complicated relationships and shocking twists. Just Another Missing Person is a story that stays with you long after the final page and Georgia Pritchett is the perfect screenwriter to bring it to life as a thrilling premium TV series.”

Universal International Studios is also in development on Isobel Kim’s sci-fi novel Sublimation, Charlie Watson’s Moral Injuries and Lucy Foley’s The Midnight Feast for TV, the latter with Sue Naegle and Ali Krug.

McAllister is represented by UTA and Felicity Blunt & Lucy Morris at The Curtis Brown Group. Pritchett is represented by Lily Williams at Curtis Brown and Dan Erlij at UTA.

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