Emma Laird joins 'Gossip Girl' star as ‘Butcher & Blackbird’ heads to Prime Video
![[L-R] ‘Butcher & Blackbird’ cover; Emma Laird poses for a picture (Cover Image Source: [L-R] brynneweaverbooks.com; Getty | Photo by Jeff Spicer)](https://media.pubninja.com/articles/brand-3/covers/1792725522951_3cb74bf5033d.jpg_1200_630)
Emma Laird (‘28 Years Later’) and Thomas Doherty (‘Gossip Girl’) have been cast in ‘Butcher & Blackbird,’ a serial killer romance that Amazon MGM Studios has acquired for a Prime Video release, according to Deadline. Lyrical Media and Embrace have sold the feature film rights to the project, which is based on best-selling author Brynne Weaver’s book of the same name.
Chris McKay (‘The Tomorrow War’) will direct the movie, and Laura Kosann will handle the script, with revisions by Ari Berkowitz and Ava Tramer. Kosann joined in January 2025, when Lyrical Media and Ryder Picture Company still held the rights. Alexander Black of Lyrical Media and Embrace will produce the movie, with Weaver, McKay, Arlen Konopaki, Jon Rosenberg, and Jonathan Faust of Lyrical Media set to executive produce. The movie will be McKay’s first project after ‘The Lego Batman Movie’ and ‘Renfield,’ with ‘The Tomorrow War’ also landing on Amazon. Formerly known as Ryder Picture Company, Embrace has produced ‘Dumb Money’ and ‘Office Romance,’ a Netflix romantic comedy.
The novel was published in October 2023 as the first book in the trilogy ‘Ruinous Love’. It reached the New York Times bestseller list and became a BookTok sensation. The story is a dark, funny serial killer mystery about two rival killers who target other serial killers. As they attempt to outwit each other, they begin to develop a connection. Over 5 million copies of the author’s books have been sold worldwide in more than 25 territories.
Meanwhile, Doherty's résumé includes ‘Gossip Girl,’ ‘Tell Me Lies,’ and ‘High Fidelity,’ and the Hulu series ‘Paradise.’ Laird, on the other hand, started her career in 2021 opposite Jeremy Renner in the first season of ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ by Taylor Sheridan. The project was followed by ‘A Haunting in Venice’ and ‘The Brutalist’. In 2025, she took on the lead role in ‘Satisfaction,’ which premiered at SXSW on March 7. Her 2025 credits also include the comedy ‘Fackham Hall.’ Laird also appeared as Jimmima in the final minutes of the film '28 Years Later' in 2025. She reprised her role in the 2026 sequel ‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,’ directed by Nia DaCosta.
