TV rights snapped up for Adegoke’s debut novel

A24, BBC and HBO Max have won rights to co-develop Yomi Adegoke’s debut novel The List into a television series, with Adegoke as creator and executive producer.

Rights were negotiated by Josie Freedman at CAA, on behalf of Hannah Ladds and Hayley Steed at Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV and Film Agency.

The List will be published by Fourth Estate on 6th July in the UK and by William Morrow on 26th September in the US. It was sold in an 11-way auction last year. 

The synopsis reads: “The List is a sensational, page-turning debut novel about secrets, lies and our digital lives. Young, beautiful, internet-famous couple Ola and Michael’s picture-perfect relationship comes under intense scrutiny when a list of unsubstantiated allegations appear online. Can their relationship survive the storm? Should it?”

Adegoke said: “I truly cannot put into words how excited I am to have the opportunity to tell Ola and Michael’s story on-screen. There is so much more I have to say on the complexities of these characters’ on and offline lives, their friends, their families and everything else. Being able to do so in a series is nothing short of a dream come true. The fact that I’ll be working with the best in the business is an absolute privilege and I am so thankful to them for believing in me and this book before I’d even finished it.”

Adegoke is a multi-award-winning journalist and author. She is a columnist at both the Guardian and British Vogue and was the host of the Women’s Fiction Prize podcast. In 2018, she co-wrote the bestselling book Slay In Your Lane and in the same year was named one of the most influential people in London by the Evening Standard. She is a recipient of the Groucho Maverick award and a Marie Clare Future Shaper award. In 2021 she was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30. She has co-written three other books.