Entangled ceo and founder Liz Pelletier and Sheryl Clark have launched a production company, Premeditated Productions, which has a three-year first-look TV and film deal with Amazon MGM Studios. Clark was formerly president of Crooked Highway. The company will license Entangled’s backlist, to develop titles for tv, film, and video games. A series based on Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, two books from the bestselling The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros published by Entangled’s Red Tower, is currently in the works at Amazon (preceding the new production company). Pelletier said, “Romance and fantasy have always been incredibly popular, but today […]
Film/TV
PYR Partners with Lion Forge Entertainment
Penguin Young Readers has partnered with Lion Forge Entertainment to develop TV and film projects based on their titles. The first titles include Brian McCann’s Wannabe Farms, Tyler Knott Gregson and Sarah Linden’s North Pole Ninjas, M.D. Payne’s Monster Juice series and Francesco Sedita and Prescott Seraydarian’s The Pathfinders Society series. “Lion Forge is the perfect partner to bring some of Penguin’s most exciting properties to screens worldwide,” PYR president Jen Loja said. “With their expertise in engaging diverse audiences with unique yet universal stories, we couldn’t be more excited to see how these projects develop.” Lion Forge Entertainment president […]
Harry Potter Will Become A “Decade-Long” TV Series
At a presentation on Wednesday, HBO Max, which is rebranding as just Max in conjunction with Warner Bros. Discovery, announced a new live action Harry Potter TV series. J.K. Rowling will executive produce, along with Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts, but a writer and showrunner have not yet been selected. Also, “David Heyman is currently in talks to executive produce.” The Hollywood Reporter notes that the series will have a budget “commensurate with those of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon” (the former’s first season had a budget of $125 million). “The stories from each of Rowling’s Harry Potter books […]
Jenna Bush Hager Has First-Look Deal with Universal for Book Adaptations
Jenna Bush Hager has entered into a first-look production deal with Universal Studio Group, Variety reports, focused on optioning books for development. She indicates she is about to hire an executive “from the film and TV worlds” who “can really help create a company that stands by these missions” of finding new authors from diverse backgrounds. It’s unclear the extent to which Bush Hager will focus on optioning on her “Read with Jenna” selections or other titles from her broad reading; she says she read 100 books last year looking for her monthly picks. She says, “I think it will […]
UK Tries TV Show Search for Cookbook Author
Starting January 31, the UK’s Channel 4 will air a seven-episode TV series called The Great Cook Book Challenge with Jamie Oliver. Following a series of cooking challenges among 18 chefs, one winner will get a cookbook publishing deal with Penguin Michael Joseph. The publisher’s managing director Louisa Moore is head judge on the show. She says: “I hope and believe that this show offers an opportunity to showcase one area of publishing to a wider audience in a positive and genuine way, that it can start to help demystify the publishing process, because it is essential and necessary now […]
Newsletter Touts Book Material for Development
Former THR books editor Andy Lewis is writing a weekly column for start-up The Ankler that touts some forthcoming releases still available for film/TV options. Called the Optionist, he writes, “Every Friday, I’ll present un-optioned material from books, magazines, news articles, podcasts, games and graphic novels that I think deserve a look. I will attempt to go beyond hot titles on current lists from your book scouts, and pick out the hidden gems.”