It seems that if HBO had its way, there would be even bigger and better lies in the future. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Big Little Lies novelist Liane Moriarty revealed that producers have expressed a keen interest in Madeline Martha Mackenzie and the gang returning for another season of mischief on the Monterey coast. “I have started to think about ways this could continue,†she explained. “The producers have asked me to see if I can come up with some ideas.†Moriarty added that she wouldn’t be interested in writing a sequel in novel form, and that if it were to happen, it would only be a follow-up story written for television. “I’m absolutely open to it because, once I started thinking, it was too much fun to see what I could do and to see these characters again,†she said. “And there’s definitely places you can go … I think everybody is pretty keen. They all loved working together but I think the thing is the story has to be right. So if it’s right, and if David E. Kelley is happy to get the screenplay right, then I think that’ll do it.â€
Moriarty also said potential season-two plots that would need to be touched upon include those relating to Bonnie and Celeste — and she was particularly unenthused that the mini-series didn’t touch on Bonnie’s backstory involving domestic abuse, which was her central drive for killing Perry in the novel. (There were many other dropped plot points, as well.) “My original reaction was, what have they done? How have they left that out?†she explained. “But a lot of people have said that they could tell [what was Bonnie’s true story], there had been little hints and that you can take that away. It’s implied in her performances and some little lines. I think I might have preferred to have had it in there but I wouldn’t argue against it either. It also leaves open the possibility of season two.†Only time will tell if a second season will ever come to fruition, although Jean-Marc Vallée is looking pretty busy at HBO these days.
Update July 27: The status of BLL season two just got a little clearer, as HBO’s programming president Casey Bloys confirmed at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that he has asked Moriarty to “take a crack at†developing more Lies of the rich and beautiful. As TVLine reports, Bloys did acknowledge director Jean-Marc Vallée’s on-the-record refusal to participate in a second season, but he also told the TCA audience, “Nicole and Reese can be very persuasive.†To be clear, asking Moriarty to get to work on a new story is not an automatic green light, but if Bloys likes what he sees from her, a return to the shores of Monterey could happen. “First we have to see the material and see if it’s worth everyone’s time,†said Bloys. “And if it is, [we’ll have a] conversation about directors.â€