The Shards: Dream Scenario Director Kristoffer Borgli to Direct Brett Easton Ellis HBO Series

Dream Scenario director Kristoffer Borgli is set to direct The Shards, the upcoming HBO series that’s based on the Brett Easton Ellis novel of the same name.

The series, which Borgli will also executive produce, takes place in the early 1980s. According to Deadline, the story follows a group of privileged high school friends in Los Angeles. This happens as a serial killer causes chaos across the city. There is also a podcast based on The Shards, which was released in 2022.

Ellis will serve as writer and also executive produces alongside Borgli, who also directed Sick of Myself. Nick Hall, Brian Young, and Kathleen McCaffrey also executive produce. Dream Scenario, starring Nicolas Cage, garnered positive reviews. The dark comedy fantasy film from A24, produced by Midsommar director Ari Aster, focuses on Cage’s mild-mannered professor who begins to inexplicably appear in the dreams of others.

What to know about The Shards

The Shards focuses on the teenage Bret, a senior at an exclusive prep school. A new student arrives with a mysterious past. That student is Robert Mallory, described as a bright and handsome charismatic student. He’s hiding a secret from Bret and his friends even while he becomes a part of their tightly-knit circle. All of Bret’s group are Bret and his friends are the sons of film directors, producers, and other notable Holywood figures.

Bret’s obsession with Mallory is matched only by his increasingly unsettling preoccupation with the Trawler, a serial killer on the loose. That serial, in turn, seems obsessed with Bret and his friends, taunting them with threats and violence. The situation escalates, and it becomes unclear who can be trusted and whether the events that unfold can be fully believed.

The novel is a fictionalized telling of Ellis’ final year in high school. Ellis, who wrote American Psycho, had previously mentioned that Call Me By Your Name and Challengers director Luca Guadiningo would direct the project. It was also noted that Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi was eyed to star in The Shards.