Butcher & Blackbird Lands at Amazon MGM With Laird and Doherty

Amazon MGM Studios has acquired Brynne Weaver's dark romance novel Butcher & Blackbird for a worldwide Prime Video release, with the cast announced on October 22, 2026, as reported by Deadline.

The deal saw Lyrical Media and Embrace sell the feature package to Amazon MGM Studios, according to Deadline.

Emma Laird, known for her roles in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and Mayor of Kingstown, has been cast as Sloane 'Blackbird/The Orb Weaver' Sutherland, while Thomas Doherty, of Paradise and Tell Me Lies, takes on Rowan 'The Boston Butcher' Kane, as noted by mandatory.com.

The pairing of Laird and Doherty brings two actors with strong genre credentials to a project that demands both dramatic range and a capacity for dark comedic tone.

Behind the camera, Chris McKay — director of The Lego Batman Movie and The Tomorrow War — will helm the film, with the script credited to Laura Kosann and revised by Ari Berkowitz and Ava Tramer, according to Yahoo Entertainment.

Brynne Weaver will executive produce the adaptation, per the same Yahoo Entertainment report.

Butcher & Blackbird is a dark romantic comedy following rival serial killers whose dangerous encounter becomes something far more complicated — a premise that has clearly resonated with readers far beyond its genre niche.

The book was self-published in 2023, went viral on BookTok, was subsequently picked up by a Penguin Random House imprint, became a #1 New York Times bestseller, and has now sold over 5 million copies worldwide, as Deadline reports.

That trajectory — from self-published debut to multimillion-copy bestseller to major streaming acquisition — is a template that publishers and platforms have been watching closely, and Weaver's title is among the clearest recent examples of BookTok's power to drive commercial outcomes at scale.

McKay's attachment adds an interesting dimension: his background in broad genre filmmaking, from animated family comedies to action blockbusters, suggests Amazon MGM is positioning this as a wide-audience genre-blending feature rather than a niche dark romance.

The adaptation also arrives at a moment when streaming platforms are aggressively competing for IP with built-in fandoms, particularly titles with demonstrable social media traction.

Weaver is also the author of Harvest Season, another title in her catalog that fans of the Ruinous Love series will recognize — a natural companion for readers discovering her work through this film.

Want the full verdict on the novel before the film arrives? Read our review of Butcher & Blackbird to see whether the book lives up to its remarkable commercial and cultural journey.