HBO Max to Develop Series Based on Kirthana Ramisetti Novel ‘Dava Shastri’s Last Day’ (EXCLUSIVE)
HBO Max is developing a series adaptation of the novel “Dava Shastri’s Last Day” by Kirthana Ramisetti, Variety has learned exclusively.
In the novel, Dava Shastri is one of the world’s wealthiest women. But when she learns she is dying of brain cancer, she decides to leak news of her death early so that she can read the obituaries from around the world. But once the news is out, secrets from her past are exposed that shake her and her children to their core.
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The project was sold to HBO Max in what sources describe as a competitive situation. The search is currently on for a writer to adapt the book for the screen. Peter Jaysen, Alan Gasmer, and Bob Bookman of Veritas Entertainment Group will executive produce. Vertias’ Andy Cutler will co-produce. HBO Max is the studio.
“Dava Shastri’s Last Day” was originally published in late 2021. The book was Ramisetti’s debut novel and received good reviews upon its release. She is formerly an entertainment reporter for publications like Newsday and New York Daily News. Her work has also been published in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, The Atlantic, and several other outlets. She received her master’s degree in creative writing from Emerson College.
News of the development comes as HBO and HBO Max have been in something of a state of flux amid the closing of the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger. Still, HBO Max has renewed a number of its popular shows in recent days, including the crime drama “Tokyo Vice” and the pirate comedy series “Our Flag Means Death.”
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