Retailers of movie tie-in editions of The Lovely Bones should be on alert. In test screenings, Paramount has found that “the film’s most promising target audience is teen and college-aged girls,” even as “adults so far appear to be lukewarm on the picture…. Most people involved in the film originally thought it would primarily appeal to older moviegoers.” The studio’s co-president of marketing Megan Colligan confirms, “While the initial plan was that the primary target audience was over 25, we discovered that the teen and college-aged audience is critical to the success of this movie.”LAT In other Hollywood reports, Chris […]
Film/TV
Random House Films Gets Stephen Frears to Adapt Beth Raymer Memoir
An agent was asking us just the other day whether Random House Films was still alive since the unit has released only one movie–Reservation Road–since its founding four years ago. But Variety reports that the joint venture with Focus Features has hired director Stephen Frears for a planned film version of Beth Raymer’s forthcoming gambling memoir LAY THE FAVORITE, TAKE THE DOG. D.V. DeVincentis, who worked with Frears on the High Fidelity movie, is adapting, and they are hoping to go into production next June. RH Films optioned the Raymer book in 2007.Variety
Dagger Awards to be Televised; ITN Creates Book Club Video Portal
After handing out a slew of Dagger Awards Thursday, the Crime Writers’ Association announced it is joining forces with Cactus TV to televise the remaining awards – now branded the Crime Thriller Dagger Awards – on October 21. In other TV-related book news, ITN has teamed up with various publishers, including Faber, Penguin and Random House, on a YouTube-housed portal of book-related video content called Beyond Books. Guardian
Grisham to Write Spec Screenplay About Four Sailors Who Claim Were Wrongly Convicted
The novelist is working on a screenplay about Virginia’s Norfolk Four. “It’s the most egregious case of wrongful conviction I’ve seen, and I travel around the country listening to stories about these cases,” Grisham says. He expects to have a draft finished by the fall, but for now he is writing it on spec. Tom Wells and Richard Leo published a book on the case, THE WRONG GUYS: Murder, False Confessions, and the Norfolk Four, last November with the New Press. Grisham said he hoped the project would help the three imprisoned sailors. “You can’t forget about those guys. I’m […]
Random UK Children's Creates Joint Venture to Develop Film/TV Properties
Random House UK’s Children’s Book division has created a new joint-venture in partnership with Komixx Entertainment to produce animated and live-action children’s and family films and TV programs. Called Random House Children’s Screen Entertainment, they will develop the publisher’s books and characters, and plan to include both film and TV partners as well as video game producers, toy manufacturers and other merchandisers. Fiona Macmillan will lead the venture for Random House, and advisor and minority shareholder Catherine Robins is joining the management of the new entity. Random UK Children’s managing director Philippa Dickinson says “it marks a huge step forward […]
Overall Ludlum Deal at Universal
Universal Pictures will build on their Bourne adventures franchise with an overall deal with the Robert Ludlum estate, acquiring exclusive rights to the Bourne character and a first look at all other Ludlum deals not under option elsewhere. Over 25 Ludlum novels have not been developed into movies, and the estate retains contractual approval over screenplays and actors. Henry Morrison and ICM represented the estate in the deal. The Matarese Circle is already controlled by MGM and Relativity, Paramount bought The Chancellor Manuscript, and Summit Entertainment has The Osterman Weekend, while Universal is developing The Sigma Protocol under a separate […]