BookTok has, to this point, been a huge boon for movie studios because not only has it given them ideas, but it’s also handed them a ton of publishing sensations to turn into movies or television shows. But few have inspired as much fascination or controversy as H.D. Carlton’s Cat and Mouse Duet. The series has a ferociously devoted audience and it’s been continually at the center of arguments over whether or not its extreme content could ever be tamed or softened in order for it to be adapted on screen. Well, now we know the answer to that.

Carlton has officially confirmed that a movie adaptation of Haunting Adeline is in development. The announcement marks the first concrete movement towards bringing Adeline Reilly and Zade Meadows to the screen after years of fun, amateur trailers, casting rumors, and false reports claiming that a Netflix adaptation already existed. Carlton’s official website now teases that a movie is “loading,” although no studio, filmmaker, cast, or release date has been revealed yet.

While the announcement specifically concerns Haunting Adeline, it is also the most significant adaptation update yet for Hunting Adeline. The two novels form one continuous story, making it difficult to imagine the first movie reaching the end of Adeline and Zade’s journey without eventually tackling its much darker sequel. And believe us, it is very dark.

Could ‘Hunting Adeline’ Become the Second Movie?

Haunting Adeline follows author Adeline Reilly after she moves into her late grandmother’s gothic mansion, but she soon discovers she’s being watched by someone named Zade Meadows, a vigilante who targets human traffickers while becoming dangerously obsessed with Adeline.

The sequel, Hunting Adeline, picks up after the first novel’s cliffhanger and shifts the story into even more disturbing territory. Just a few of the more troubling themes are abduction, trafficking, sexual violence, and trauma, all of which would definitely make a faithful mainstream film adaptation particularly challenging. The books are explicitly intended for adult readers and contain material that would almost certainly require substantial care — and potentially significant changes — during the adaptation process.

No announcement has confirmed whether the production has acquired the rights to the complete duet or only the first novel, and it’s also unclear whether Haunting Adeline will be developed as a theatrical movie or for a streaming platform. The popularity of the second book, however, makes it a natural continuation should the first adaptation prove successful.

Haunting Adeline is officially being developed as a movie

via Collider