There are some books you just know would make an amazing book-to-screen adaptation, and for me, Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen is near the top of that list and has been for decades. So to hear that an adaptation is finally in the works and has an amazing actor attached to play the lead was the best kind of news. While it's not the first time anyone's tried to bring the 2004 crime caper novel to the screen, I'm really hoping this one sticks, because Amanda Seyfried as Joey? Yes, please.
Deadline reported the news earlier this month that Amanda Seyfried was attached to star in a series adaptation of Skinny Dip for Amazon. Once Upon a Time creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis are on board to write and executive-produce. The creator of Scrubs (and the upcoming Scrubs revival/reboot), Bill Lawrence, who adapted Hiaasen's Bad Monkey, is also on board to executive produce this one.
To say that Skinny Dip is one of my favorite crime comedy books is probably an understatement. It's honestly one of my favorite books, period. I just love the tone of it, and how everything spirals from the very start. I can still remember the first time I listened to the audiobook and was completely sold by the first few lines:
At the stroke of eleven on a cool April night, a woman named Joey Perrone went overboard from a luxury deck of the cruise liner M.V. Sun Duchess. Plunging toward the dark Atlantic, Joey was too dumbfounded to panic. 'I married an asshole,' she thought, knifing headfirst into the waves.
This work of fiction tells the story of a wealthy woman surviving her husband's attempt to murder her by chucking her over the side of a cruise ship during their anniversary trip. Rather than running to the police, she decides not to reemerge alive right away and teams up with Mick Stranahan, a former detective who’s living a quiet life on an island, when Joey literally floats into his life, barely conscious and clinging to a bale of pot.
Joey is a strong, capable woman trying to make sense of how she found herself in the predicament she’s in, and I think Amanda Seyfried is great casting for the role. In fact, if you need a reminder of how much range she has in handling intense emotions and dramatic moments as well as she does the comedic ones, go see The Housemaid. Critics certainly seemed to appreciate her recent performance, and after seeing the movie myself, I’m even more excited to know she’s involved in this adaptation.
Skinny Dip is such a fun story with a Florida backdrop and the kind of unpredictable characters you'd expect from a Carl Hiaasen book. Really, it’s kind of baffling to me that it’s taken so long to be adapted.
As Deadline’s article notes, there were efforts to adapt this book in the past, including an attempt at HBO at one point, and a pilot made for the CW. If all goes well for the current project, which is being produced by Warner Bros, it will presumably stream on Prime at some point. It was originally being produced for HBO Max.
I’m excited to hear more updates on the cast – particularly for who’s playing Mick Stranahan – if/when things begin to move forward. In the meantime, I may need to give the book another reread in the near future.
You can pick up a copy of Skinny Dip at Amazon.
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