Ryan Murphy's The Shards to debut on FX and Hulu Aug 5

A new television series from prolific producer Ryan Murphy, based on the novel by author Bret Easton Ellis, will premiere on August 5, 2026. The drama, titled "The Shards," will debut on FX and Hulu in the United States and on Disney platforms internationally.

The series is a dark coming-of-age thriller set in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. It follows a group of privileged high school seniors at an elite prep school as they navigate identity, sex, jealousy, and obsession against the backdrop of a serial killer terrorizing the city. The story centers on a fictionalized version of a young Bret Easton Ellis, an aspiring writer played by Igby Rigney, whose reality begins to unravel with the arrival of a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, portrayed by Homer Gere. Mallory's transfer coincides with the growing threat of "The Trawler," a killer targeting teenagers.

The cast also includes Kaia Gerber, Hayes Warner, and Graham Campbell as members of the central social circle, a glamorous group drawn into a world of wealth, parties, and excess. The adult characters are played by Wes Bentley, Evan Rachel Wood, and Jordan Roth.

The project's path to television was not straightforward....