Oscar winner Chloe Zhao has set her next feature directorial project with the adaptation of Irish author Maggie O'Farrell's novel Hamnet. The movie comes from Amblin Partners, Hera Pictures, Neal Street Productions and Book of Shadows, according to entertainment news website Variety. Published in 2020, the novel became a New York Times bestseller. It follows the story of William Shakespeare's wife Agnes as she grieves the death of her only son, 11-year-old Hamnet, to the bubonic plague. Chloe Zhao Says Her Eternals Pitch to Marvel Boss Kevin Feige Had a William Blake Poem.

The novel also traces the beginnings of Agnes' relationship with young Shakespeare, who is never named, known only as the world's most famous playwright. Zhao, who won the Oscar for best director for her 2020 movie Nomadland, will pen the script for Hamnet with O'Farrell. Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris and Sam Mendes are producing, with Nic Gonda executive producing for Book of Shadows.