HBO’s limited series Sharp Objects could become a little less limited, showrunner Marti Noxon said Saturday at SXSW.
During a keynote address at SXSW’s film conference, Noxon talked about Sharp Objects as part of her “self-harm trilogy” (which also includes Netflix film To the Bone and AMC’s Dietland) and how the central character, Camille (Amy Adams), was able to solve a mystery not just about a crime in her hometown, but about her own life.
“When the truth of her life gets close, she finally moves toward it,” Noxon said. But, she added, the limited series didn’t necessarily tell the whole story of Camille’s life.
“Maybe there will be a sequel and we’ll get to find out,” Noxon said. “Gillian [Flynn] and I have some thoughts on it.” Flynn wrote the novel Sharp Objects and executive produced the series with Noxon.
After the finale last August, Noxon told The Hollywood Reporter that while she could envision continuing the story, a second season would be logistically tough to pull off.
“It’s off the table in terms of, people are going on to their next projects, and it was a pretty hard A-team to assemble,” she said then. “It’s not hard to imagine from a story standpoint, because obviously we love these characters, but from a technical standpoint, it seems like a long shot.”
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Answering a question from the Austin festival audience about a second season, Noxon said she and Flynn initially conceived of Sharp Objects as an ongoing series set in the town of Wind Gap, Missouri, but that HBO was more interested in a limited run.
Beyond Flynn and Noxon kicking around ideas, there’s no movement on a second season. Should it eventually happen, though, Sharp Objects would join the growing ranks of limited or seemingly close-ended series that morph into continuing projects (see: Big Little Lies, The End of the F***ing World, 13 Reasons Why). Despite her interest in continuing with Camille and the town of Wind Gap, Noxon doesn’t see the trend as always a good thing.
“I do think there are certain things that are just limited, and should be,” she said. “I didn’t necessarily think The Handmaid’s Tale needed to continue — that book is just perfect. … It’s only if you can see more [story] and see the world expanding that you should try and go for more.”
