Category Archives: Optioned Books

Warner Bros. Adapting The Monstrumologist for Film

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“The Monstrumologist,” the first novel in a four-part series, written by Rick Yancey has been optioned for film by Warner Bros. Pictures according to a report from Variety. The studio has even hired Jessica Postigo to adapt the first book into a what may become a film franchise.

The novel was first published in 2009 and if officially described as follows:

These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for nearly ninety years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me.

So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphan and assistant to a doctor with a most unusual specialty: monster hunting. In the short time he has lived with the doctor, Will has grown accustomed to his late night callers and dangerous business. But when one visitor comes with the body of a young girl and the monster that was feeding on her, Will’s world is about to change forever. The doctor has discovered a baby Anthropophagi–a headless monster that feeds through the mouthfuls of teeth in its chest–and it signals a growing number of Anthropophagi. Now, Will and the doctor must face the horror threatenning to overtake and consume our world before it is too late.

In the series, the book was followed by “The Curse of Wendigo,” “The Isle of Blood” and “The Final Descent.”

There is no word yet on a projected release date for the project or when the studio plans to begin production.

Aaron Sorkin to Adapt “Flash Boys”

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The best selling book from Michael Lewis, “Flash Boys,” is currently in negotiations to be adapted by Aaron Sorkin. This would be the second project that Sorkin would adapt by the writer as he previously co-wrote the screenplay for Moneyball. 

Sony acquired the nonfiction book back in April and is attempting to get Sorkin to lead the project.

“Flash Boys” follows the practice of high-frequency trading on Wall Street and how it became a way to rig the system. Lewis’ book revolves around a group of men on Wall Street including Sergey Aleynikov, a one-time programmer for Goldman Sachs, and Brad Katsuyama, the founder of IEX, the Investor’s Exchange

The film adaptation is being produced by Scott Rudin and Eli Bush. Rudin and Sorkin are frequent collaborators, having worked together on Social Network and the HBO series The Newsroom.

Lewis’ book was published March 31 and became an immediate best-seller.

YA Series “Soulkeepers” Optioned for Film

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A new YA paranormal series is heading to the big screen. “The Soulkeepers,” a six-book series written by G.P. Ching has been optioned by producer Aaron Magnani.

“The Soulkeepers  series” is based in a world where Heaven and Hell wage war for human souls on Earth. A teenage boy named Jacob, who’s a bit of a hothead and a vandal, discovers he has the ability to protect souls from Fallen Angels. He begins to learn how to harness this skill from his beautiful and mysterious neighbor, Dr. Abigail Silva, and soon unlocks new discoveries in faith, love and redemption.

The series first hit shelves back in 2011 and the sixth book was released in March 2014. Ching also wrote The Grounded Trilogy. 

Currently there is no word on who will star in the production. However, Aaron Magnani Production has reportedly already begun searching for the male lead role. They also are scoping out a writer to adapt the series for the screen. Let us not forget they do not have a director for the production yet either.

More news is expected to be announced over the new few months for Soulkeepers as Magnani begins hiring production staff and casting the lead roles. There is no anticipated release date as of yet.

Jared Leto In Talks to Replace Will Smith in “Brilliance”

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It was announced last month that Will Smith had dropped out of the big screen adaptation of “Brilliance.” Now, according to Variety, Jared Leto is currently in talks for the lead role. Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures is adapting the novel of the same name from Marcus Sakey.

“Brilliance” is officially described as follows:

In Wyoming, a little girl reads people’s darkest secrets by the way they fold their arms. In New York, a man sensing patterns in the stock market racks up $300 billion. In Chicago, a woman can go invisible by being where no one is looking. They’re called “brilliants,” and since 1980, one percent of people have been born this way. Nick Cooper is among them; a federal agent, Cooper has gifts rendering him exceptional at hunting terrorists. His latest target may be the most dangerous man alive, a brilliant drenched in blood and intent on provoking civil war. But to catch him, Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in—and betray his own kind.

The screenplay was written by David Koepp with Julius Onah as director. Noomi Rapace was previously announced for a role in the film. Producers on Brilliance include Jon Jashni, Joe Roth and Thomas Tul with Alex Hedlund, Eric McLeod and Palek Patel executive producing.

GRRM Speaks Out About Game of Thrones Rape Scene

 

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Earlier this season we saw a scene in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” that differed significantly from the source material. It called into question the showrunners adaptation skills of the novels drew ire from the fans. Novel series author, George R.R. Martin even spoke out about the scene differences.

In the scene in the show, we see Jaime Lannister rape his sister Cersei next to the corpse of their incest-bred son, Joffrey. In the novel, there is not even the slightest hint of rape. Martin responded to the changed scene in his LiveJournal account saying:

As for your question… I think the “butterfly effect” that I have spoken of so often was at work here. In the novels, Jaime is not present at Joffrey’s death, and indeed, Cersei has been fearful that he is dead himself, that she has lost both the son and the father/ lover/ brother. And then suddenly Jaime is there before her. Maimed and changed, but Jaime nonetheless. Though the time and place is wildly inappropriate and Cersei is fearful of discovery, she is as hungry for him as he is for her.

The whole dynamic is different in the show, where Jaime has been back for weeks at the least, maybe longer, and he and Cersei have been in each other’s company on numerous occasions, often quarreling. The setting is the same, but neither character is in the same place as in the books, which may be why Dan & David played the sept out differently. But that’s just my surmise; we never discussed this scene, to the best of my recollection.

Also, I was writing the scene from Jaime’s POV, so the reader is inside his head, hearing his thoughts. On the TV show, the camera is necessarily external. You don’t know what anyone is thinking or feeling, just what they are saying and doing.

If the show had retained some of Cersei’s dialogue from the books, it might have left a somewhat different impression — but that dialogue was very much shaped by the circumstances of the books, delivered by a woman who is seeing her lover again for the first time after a long while apart during which she feared he was dead. I am not sure it would have worked with the new timeline.

That’s really all I can say on this issue. The scene was always intended to be disturbing… but I do regret if it has disturbed people for the wrong reasons.

BBC Initially Felt Benedict Cumberbatch Was “Not Sexy Enough”

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It is hard to imagine BBC’s “Sherlock” without Benedict Cumberbatch. One might even say he adds a bit of sex appeal to the show. Some might say. However, according to showrunner Steven Moffat, they initially didn’t think that was the case. (and honestly I kind of only think Cumberbatch is sexy in Sherlock and not in anything else, otherwise he sort of looks like an alien, no? I mean he is a really amazing actor don’t get me wrong but he did play an alien in “Star Trek” so… )

Moffat was once quoted as saying that Cumberbatch seemed “not sexy enough” when he was first cast as Sherlock Holmes on the series. In an interview with Radio Times Moffat explained the reactions of casting David Tennant and Cumberbatch in roles at the time.

“They said of casting David Tennant [in a mini series] as Casanova: ‘Damn, you should have cast someone sexier,’ ” Moffat, who continues to oversee Doctor Who and Sherlock, said, according to the publication. “With Benedict Cumberbatch, we were told the same thing. ‘You promised us a sexy Sherlock, not him.’ “

Though in the end it worked out well didn’t it? I can’t imagine anyone else playing the role nor would I want to.

Walking Dead Star Adapting “Aquariums of Pyongyang”

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Steven Yeun, most known for his role as Glen on “The Walking Dead,” is teaming with Radar Pictures to adapt the book “The Aquariums of Pyongyang” for the big screen. The book is an autobiography written by Kang Chol-Hwan.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Yeun will star as Chol-Hwan. He will also executive produce the film alongside Ted Field, Mike Weber and Michael Napoliello in partnership with Sean Lee.

MV5BMTk1MTE0Mjk4N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTY2Mjk5Nw@@._V1_SX214_CR0,0,214,317_AL_“The Aquariums of Pyongyang” is set in North Korea, one of the last bastions of hardline Communism. Its leaders have kept a tight grasp on the one-party regime, quashing any nascent opposition movements and sending all suspected dissidents to its brutal concentration camps for “re-education.” Kang Chol-Hwan is the first survivor of one of these camps to escape and tell his story to the world, documenting the extreme conditions in these gulags and providing a personal insight into life in North Korea. Part horror story, part historical document, part memoir, part political tract, the book is a record of one man’s triumph over unbelievable adversity to expose the truths of North Korea to the modern world.

There is currently no word on when the film will begin production or an expected release date in theaters.

Bill Condon to Direct Live-Action “Beauty and the Beast”

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Bill Condon, most known for his work on “Twilight” and “The Fifth Estate” has officially signed on for a live-action film of “Beauty and the Beast.”

The famous animated “Beauty and the Beast” film opened in theaters in 1991, and went on to earn $425 million worldwide.

The decision to move forward with the project is likely due to the recent success of “Maleficent” which released in theaters last month. It topped the box office on its opening weekend earning over $170 million worldwide. Disney has also had wide success with live-action versions of “Wizard of Oz” and “Alice in Wonderlands.”

There is already a live-action “Jungle Book” project in the works and reportedly a “Cinderella” film as well.

Director, Condon, is no stranger to musicals either. His 2006 hit Dreamgirls, based on the Broadway musical, was a worldwide success.

Let’s just hope the new project will not look like this:

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Tom Hardy to Join Cast of DiCaprio’s Upcoming Western

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Tom Hardy, also known as the sexiest man to ever rock a sweater vest, is currently in negotiations to join the cast of the film, The Revenant. The movie is reportedly a survival western based on the novel by Michael Punke.

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the story recounts the horrific tale of frontiersman Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) who was a 36-year-old member of a fur-trapping expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1823 when he was mauled by a grizzly. The group’s captain left behind two men — John Fitzgerald and the legendary Jim Bridger — to stay with Glass until he died from his injuries… but they didn’t. Fearful that Indians weren’t going to get them, Fitzgerald and Bridger stripped Glass of his weapons and equipment and fled. Glass didn’t die. Instead, the mutilated trapper crawled over 200 miles through the wilderness to find Fitzgerald and Bridger and exact his revenge.

Glass’s tale was also the basis for the 1971 western Man in the Wilderness. That film starred Richard Harris and John Huston.

According to a report from Vulture, Hardy’s role will be a supporting character but which character that is has not been announced.

Leonardo DiCaprio will be in the lead role and has been attached to The Revenant for years but only recently announced it would be his next movie.

Production will start begin September for a 2015 release.

Darren Aronofsky to Bring Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy to HBO

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Darren Aronofsky is heading to HBO with the miniseries adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s trilogy “MaddAddam.” Aronofsky could also be planning to direct as well.

“MaddAddam” was initially published in 2003. It is “speculative fiction” trilogy that first began with “Oryx and Crake”. It was followed by “The Year of the Flood” in 2009 and “MaddAddam” in 2013. “Oryx and Cake” is officially described as follows:

The narrator of Atwood’s riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Why is he left with nothing but his haunting memories? Alone except for the green-eyed Children of Crake, who think of him as a kind of monster, he explores the answers to these questions in the double journey he takes – into his own past, and back to Crake’s high-tech bubble-dome, where the Paradice Project unfolded and the world came to grief.

Aronofsky is set to produce through his Protozoa Pictures alongside Brandi-Ann Milbradt and Ari Handel. Atwood herself is attached to serve as consulting producer.