A24 and Square Peg are negotiating to bring Emma Cline’s bestselling 2023 novel The Guest to the screen, with Sadie Sink in talks to star and produce.
Lorene Scafaria is also in discussions to direct the adaptation, while Sink would produce alongside Square Peg. The project remains at the negotiation stage, meaning the filmmaker and star’s involvement has not yet been finalized.
Deadline first reported the proposed adaptation, and The Hollywood Reporter subsequently confirmed the talks.
Inside Emma Cline’s Hamptons Story
Published by Penguin Random House, The Guest follows Alex, a calculating grifter attempting to survive in the rarefied world of the Hamptons as summer draws to a close.
After making a mistake at a dinner party, Alex is rejected by the older man with whom she has been staying. He gives her a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city, but she remains on Long Island despite having few resources and a waterlogged phone.
Alex uses her ability to understand and navigate other people’s desires as she moves through the East End’s gated properties, hedged roads and beaches. Over the week leading up to Labor Day, her desperation and shifting moral boundaries propel her from place to place, leaving damage behind her.
The novel was longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award and selected by the Belletrist Book Club. It was also named among the year’s best books by publications including The New Yorker, Time and NPR.
Cline began working on the book years before its 2023 publication. In a 2023 interview with Vanity Fair, she said, “I started it in 2016.” She also cited books such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, explaining her interest in following characters “operating outside the bounds of our moral code.”
“There’s something fun about following that kind of chaos,” Cline said, adding that the setting emerged from considering what world would provide an effective foil for such a character.
Cline’s other publishing milestones include her recent book Switzy, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Her 2016 debut novel, The Girls, sold as part of a three-book deal worth $2 million and was loosely inspired by the 1969 Manson family murders.
Sink and Scafaria’s Roles
Should her deal close, The Guest would give Sink both a starring and producing position on the adaptation. The source material does not identify her prospective character.
Sink most recently appeared in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, making her official MCU debut as Jean Grey. She is set to reprise that role in a new X-Men film slated for release in 2028.
That movie is also set to feature Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Prof. X, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue and Maya Boyd as Storm. Adam Driver has been cast as the villain Mr. Sinister.
Scafaria’s directing credits include Hustlers, starring Jennifer Lopez. She also wrote and directed Seeking a Friend for the End of the World and The Meddler, and wrote the adapted screenplay for Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.
Her television credits include New Girl, Succession and HBO’s I Love LA, on which she serves as an executive producer and director.
Sink is represented by WME, Peikoff Mahan and imPRint. Scafaria is represented by UTA and Sloane Offer.
ShowBiz Take
The Guest arrives with clear literary recognition, an established central character and a tightly defined setting. Pairing that material with Scafaria’s experience in writing, directing and adapted screenplays gives the potential project a notable creative foundation.
For Sink, the negotiations are significant because they cover producing as well as starring. If completed, the agreement would place her alongside Square Peg in shaping the screen version of Cline’s novel rather than limiting her involvement to an acting role.
What Happens Next?
A24 and Square Peg must still complete negotiations for the adaptation, while Sink’s proposed starring and producing deal and Scafaria’s directing agreement also remain in talks. Their participation should therefore be treated as prospective until those discussions are concluded.