Toni Morrison ‘Sula’ Limited Series in Development at HBO

Toni Morrison
Daniel Boczarski/FilmMagic

Toni Morrison‘s 1973 novel Sula is being developed into a limited series at HBO. The drama is created and written by Shannon M. Houston (Station Eleven) as part of her overall deal with the network.

Sula follows two Black women, Nel Wright and Sula Peace, from childhood to adulthood. They both grew up in the same small neighborhood in Ohio called The Bottom. But Sula and Nel choose two very different paths of womanhood when they grow into adulthood. Sula chooses to liberate herself from The Bottom, living a life more intellectually and sexually free than anyone else in the city she moves to. Nel stays in The Bottom, opting for a life of marriage, motherhood, and being a leader of her community. Each of the women eventually face the consequences of their choices and what their friendship meant to their lives.

Houston will also serve as executive producer on the series, along with Stephanie Allain and her production company, Homegrown Pictures, per Deadline. Homegrown has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television and HBO. Gabrielle Ebron also executive produces for Homegrown.

Houston, a writer, poet, and critic, has served as a writer on Hulu’s The Looming Tower and Little Fires Everywhere, Prime Video’s Homecoming, HBO’s Lovecraft Country, and HBO Max’s Station Eleven. She also served as a producer on Station Eleven and Little Fires Everywhere, in addition to writing the poems for the Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon-led series. In 2020, Allain became the first Black woman to produce the Academy Awards. Her Homegrown Pictures is dedicated to producing stories by and about women and people of color. She produced Dear White People, Hustle & Flow, Juanita, and more.

Morrison was a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author. She won a Pulitzer Prize for the 1987 novel Beloved and in 1993 became the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio. She died on August 5, 2019 at 88 years old.

Sula, Limited Series Premiere, TBA, HBO