April 29th, 2013
Books to Movies & TV — In Development
Below is a listing of titles in development, those with the most recent information first. That is followed by a list of well-known titles that are Lost in Production — they have either been cancelled, or there has been no news on the projects in over 2 years.
Movies scheduled for filming are in a separate listing — see In Production
For movies with scheduled release dates, see Upcoming — with Tie-ins
Movies that have been released:
In Development
TV Series Title: Outlander
Status: May skip pilot stage and go straight-to-series for the Starz network (Deadline, 4/29/13)
Based on: Diana Gabaldon’s best selling Outlander Series
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Movie Title: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Status: Disney is producing, Lisa Cholodenko is the director, Steve Carrell to star as Alexander’s father, Jennifer Garner in talks to play the mother (Hollywood Reporter, 4/24/13)
Based on: Book by Judith Viorst, Atheneum, 1972
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Movie Title: Silence
Director: Martin Scorsese
Status: After developing this project for 15 years, Scorsese plans to begin production in Taiwan in July 2014 (Deadline, 4/19/13)
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio Del Toro, Gael Garcia Bernal
Based on: Novel by Shusaku Endo
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Movie Title: Suite Francaise
Status: Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone, Bullhead) joins Michelle Williams and Kristin Scott Thomas (Daily Mail, 11/22/12). To be directed by Saul Dibb. NYT profiles Schoenaerts and says film will release “next year” (3/8/13); The Weinstein Co. will distribute (The Playlist, 4/16/13)
Based on: Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
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HBO Series Title: The Leftovers
Director: Peter Berg
Status: Peter Berg named director, shooting on pilot expected to begin in June, with a 2014 premiere (New York Magazine, Vulture, 4/9/13)
Based on: Novel by Tom Perrotta
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Movie Title: Beautiful Ruins
Status: Shooting for an HBO pilot expected to begin in June, 2013 withTodd Field (Little Children) as director (ComingSoon, 4/8/13)
Based on: novel by Jess Walter
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Movie Title: The Age of Miracles
Status: Catherine Hardwicke to direct (Deadline, 4/3/13)
Based on: Debut novel by Karen Thompson Walker (2012)
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Movie Title: Dark Places
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Status: Charlize Theron replaces Amy Adams in the lead (press release, 2/6/13); Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) joins cast as Lyle, Chloe Moretz in talks to join, (Deadline, 4/3/13)
Based on: Novel by Gillian Flynn (2009)
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Movie Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Status: Mentioned as a project Tim Burton is developing (Empire, 4/3/13)
Based on: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Quirk Books)
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Movie Title: Hector and the Search for Happiness
Status: Toni Collette and Jean Reno set to star (Deadline, 4/2/13), to be directed by Peter Chelsom. cast already includes Simon Pegg, who will play Hector, an eccentric London psychiatrist in crisis; Rosamund Pike; Stellan Skarsgård; Christopher Plummer; Desiree Zurowski; and Jakob Davies.
Based on: Novel by Francis Lelord
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Movie Title: If I Stay
Director: Heitor Dhalia
Status: R.J. Cutler in talks to direct, Choe Moretz to star (Variety, 1/23/13). She is also in talks to join other films, including the adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places (Deadline, 4/1/13), no indication of which will come first. She also stars in the remake of Carrie, which releases in 10/18/13
Based on: YA novel by Gayle Forman
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Status: Nikolaj Arcel to direct (Deadline, 3/21/13)
Based on: Novel by Daphne DuMaurier (and 1940 Alfred Hitchock movie)
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Status: Scott Rudin optiond (Deadline, 3/16/13)
Based on: First title in the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer (FSG), to be published early 2014
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Movie Title: Gone Girl
Status: Reese Witherspoon, producing, but not starring; David Fincher “getting serious” about directing (CinemaBlend, 3/15/13)
Based on: Novel by Gillian Flynn (2012)
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Movie Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Status: Screenwriter Stuart Beattie hired to do adaptation (Hollywood Reporter, 3/14/13)
Based on: First title in YA trilogy by Laini Taylor
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Series Title: Cancer Vixen, HBO
Star: Cate Blanchett, who will also be exec. producer
Status: A “priority project” (Deadline, 3/12/13)
Based on: Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s memoir in graphic novel format, Cancer Vixen: A True Story
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Series Title: Wolf Hall, BBC Two series
Status: Mark Rylance to star (The Hollywood Reporter, 3/8/13); will delay production for a year while Rylance finishes other commitments (The Daily Mail, 3/8/13)
Based on: Wolf Hall and the sequel Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel
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Movie Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Based on: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Director: Craig Gillespie
Status: After many delays, it may be resurrected (Deadline, 3/1/13)
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HBO Series: American Gods
Status: Neil Gaiman working on script; Gaiman tweeted, “American Gods will debut this year if Gaiman can get the pilot script done in time to HBO’s satisfaction.” — (Tor.com, 3/1/13)
Based on: Novel by Neil Gaiman
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Movie Title: Predestination
Directors: The Spierig Brothers
Starring:
Ethan Hawke
Status: Sara Snook signed as female lead, (Deadline, 2/28/13)
Based on: 1959 Robert Heinlein short story, “All You Zombies”
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Movie Title: Unbroken
Producer: Angelina Jolie
Status: Joel and Ethan Coen to rewrite script (Entertainment Weekly, 2/25/13)
Based on: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
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Series Title: Hyperion
Director: Scott Derrickson
Status: AMC has put into development as a series (Deadline, 2/13/13)
Based on: The Terror by Dan Simmons, 2007
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Movie Title: The Man in the Rockefeller Suit
Director: Walter Salles
Status: Walter Salles replaces Scott Cooper as director (Playlist, 1/31/13)
Based on: The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter by Mark Seal
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Movie Title: Matched
Status: Disney adapting; Jon Chu (G.I. Joe) replaces David Slade (Twilight Saga: Eclipsed) as director, (The Hollywood Reporter, 1/31/13)
Based on: Matched (2010) by Ally Condie, the first in the trilogy, followed by Crossed (2011) and Reached (2012).
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Movie Title: Wild
Status: Reese Witherspoon, producer, recruits Nick Hornby to write script (Deadline, 11/29/12)
Based on: Memoir by Cheryl Strayed
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Movie Title: Brooklyn
Status: Nick Hornby has completed script (mentioned in story about adaptation of Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Deadline, 11/29/12) Rooney Mara to star (Deadline; 4/28/12)
Based on: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
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Movie Title: Dynamo
Status: Gerald Butler to star (Deadline, 10/30/12)
Based on: Dynamo: Defending the Honour of Kiev by Andy Dougan, about a soccer game during WWII between a group of Nazis and occupied Ukrainians.
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Movie Title: In the Garden of Beasts
Director: Michel Hazanavicius, (The Artist), in talks to direct (Deadline, 9/13/12)
Starring: Tom Hanks to star, playing Ambassador William Dodd. Natalie Portman is being courted to play his daughter.
Based on: Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts
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Movie Title: Creed of Violence
Director: Todd Field
Status: Christian Bale in talks to star (Playlist, 8/3/12)
Based on: Novel by Boston Teran (Counterpoint, 2009)
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Director: Vincenzo Natali
Status: Mark Wahlberg and Liam Neeson have been approached to star as Case and Armitage; the Guardian analyses what those actors would bring to this “long-gestating” movie (The Guardian, 8/2/12), but says the project is still “a long way from getting the green light” and that, “it is surely likely to be at least 2014 before Neuromancer finds its way into cinemas.”
Based on: Cult novel by William Gibson
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Movie Title: Crooked House
Director: Neil Labute from script co-writted with Julian Fellowes
Status: Sony acquires rights; being recast, with plans to start shooting in Fall ’12 (The Hollywood Reporter, 7/9/12); no news since, as of 3/12/13
Based on: Novel by Agatha Christie
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Movie Title: Wicked
Director: Stephen Daldry may direct
Status: Daldry is the front-runner to direct (Deadline, 7/12/12)
Based on: first two books in the Wicked series; Witch and Curse by Nancy Holder, Debbie Viguié
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Movie Title: The Abstinence Teacher
Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Status: Cholodenko confirmed she is directing, but has other things on her plate (Playlist, 7/11/12)
Based on: Novel by Tom Perrotta
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Movie Title: A Confederacy of Dunces
Status: After 30 years since it was first optioned and many years of being declared on life support, Scott Rudin took over as producer and now has Zach Galifianakis attached to star and James Bobin to direct. (New York magazine, “Vulture” blog, 5/22/12)
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Movie title: The Osterman Weekend
Status: Brian Kirk signed to direct (Deadline, 2/28/12); in an article about Ludlum books to movies, producer Ben Smith says it will be very different from the Sam Peckinpah adaptation (The Playlist, 5/18/12)
Based on: Book by Robert Ludlum
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Movie Title: Testament of Youth
Status: Soarise Ronan signed to star, (Deadline, 5/10/12)
Based on: WW I memoir by Vera Brittain
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In Limbo (No news in previous year)
Movie Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Status: No news since it was announced that filming was delayed (BBC News, 4/2/12); Kate Winslet to star, (The Wrap, 1/13/12)
Based on: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, (Dial Press, 2008)
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Movie Title: Logan’s Run
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling (no longer, as of 10/24/12)
Based on: Novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson (also made into a 1976 movie starring Michael York; a tv series was spun off the film)
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Movie title: The Emperor’s Children
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Keira Knightley, Michelle Williams, Eric Bana, Richard Gere
Status: Scott Cooper replaced Noah Baumbach as director; in an article on Cooper’s next movie, this one is listed as one of many he has signed, make it unlikely that it will go into production in the near future (The Playlist, 2/24/12)
Based on: 2006 novel by Claire Messud
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Movie Title: American Assassin
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Stars: Chris Hemsworth and Bruce Willis
Status: Pre-production.Jeffrey Nachmanoff replaces Ed Zwick as director (Deadline, 2/21/12). Chris Hemsworth offered lead (Deadline, 10/11/12). CBS Films President and CEO Amy Baer quoted on Vince Flynn’s blog, 6/8/11 – “We were prepping Consent to Kill [the firs book in the Mitch Rapp series] when Vince told us he was going to tell Mitch Rapp’s origin story in American Assassin. From there it was a natural decision to introduce audiences to Mitch Rapp – the man before he became the legend.” CBS Films controls the rights to the entire series as well as any new sequels and spinoffs.
Based on: American Assassin, Vince Flynn (S&S)
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Movie Title: The Monster of Florence
Status: George Clooney to star (The Wrap, 1/4/11)
Based on: Monster of Florence, Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi, Grand Central, 2008
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Movie Title: Dogs of Babel
Status: John Carney signed to direct (L.A. Times, 11/2/11); Steve Carell signed to star (Variety, 2/22/11)
Based on: Novel by Carolyn Parkhurst
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Movie Title: The Family Fang
Starring: Nicole Kidman
Status: optioned by Kidman’s production company, Blossome Films (Deadline, 10/27/11)
Based on: The Family Fang, Kevin Wilson, Ecco (2011)
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Movie Title: The Caves of Steel
Status: Henry Hobbs to direct (Deadline, 9/22/11)
Based on: Novel by Isaac Asimov (1954)
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Movie Title: The Fear Index
Director: Paul Greengrass (Bourne Identity)
Status: signed by 20th Century Fox; author is writing the screenplay (The Telegraph, 8/23/11)
Based on: Novel by Robert Harris, Jan., 2012 (signed before book’s release)
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Movie Title: Back Roads
Director: Adrian Lyne
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Jennifer Garner, Marcia Gay Harden
Status: Jennifer Garner pregnant, which may affect production (NextMovie.com, 8/23/11)
Based on: Novel by Tawnie O’Dell, Viking, 2000 (an Oprah Book Club selection, March, 2000)
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Movie Title: Danger Girl
Director: Andy Hartnell
Status: Kate Beckinsale, Milla Jovovich and Sofia Vergara rumored to star (BleedingCool, 8/22/11)
Based on: Danger Girl graphic novel by J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell, IDW Publishing
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Movie Title: The Gray Man
Director: James Gray
Status: Brad Pitt signed to star (The Playlist, 8/5/11)
Based on: The Gray Man, debut thriller by Mark Greaney (Jove, 2009). On Target (Jove, 2010), the second Gray Man novel was published as an original mass mkt pbk. The third in the series, Ballistic (Berkley, 10/4/11) is a trade pbk original. Greaney is also co-author on Tom Clancy’s Locked On (12/13/11)
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Movie Title: Music and Silence
Director: Lone Scherfig
Status: Still listed as “pre-production” on IMDB, as of 4/6/13; earlier shooting was announced for 2012, with a 2013 release (Thompson on Hollywood, 5/15/11);
Based on: Novel by Rose Tremain
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Director: Shane Black
Status: Will be live-action; script being written; Black hired by Warner Bros. (Deadline, 1/13/11)
Based on: Manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata; was released as a two-part, live-action Japanese movie in 2006
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Title: Incarceron
Studio: Fox
Status: Taylor Lautner (Twilight) signed to star (Deadline, 12/9/10); Fox 2000 acquired rights “with an eye to spinning the dystopian fantasy into a franchise,” (Variety, 3/10)
Based on: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
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Movie Title: Fahrenheit 451
Director: Frank Darabont
Status: “Darabont is currently searching for a lead actor with the chops to play the part — and the pull to secure some major funding too, of course.” (NextMovie.com, 11/23/10)
Based on: Classic novel by Ray Bradbury
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Movie Title: How to Survive a Robot Uprising
Status: Rights acquired by Jack Black and director Steve Pink (io9, 10/25/10)
Based on: Novel by Daniel H. Wilson
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Movie Title: The Piano Tuner
Director: Werner Herzog
Status: “Werner Herzog is heading to Burma for his new film, The Piano Tuner,” TimeOut, London, 11/21/10
Based on: 2002 novel by Daniel Mason
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Movie Title: The Adventurer’s Handbook
Studio: Universal (Variety) “seven-figure deal”
Latest Update: Jonah Hill says it’s the next movie he is shooting (MovieWeb, 4/12/10)
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Starring: Jonah Hill, Jonathan Schwartzman, Jason Segal
Based on: The Adventurer’s Handbook: Life Lessons from the World’s Great Explorers, Mike Conefrey (Smithsonian, 2006)
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Movie Title: Dewey
Starring: Meryl Streep (Variety, 11/12/2008)
Production Company: Temple Hill
Studio: New Line
Updates: Spencer, Iowa Daily Reporter, 5/8/09; Dewey Movie on Fast Track; says it is tentatively scheduled for Christmas, 2010
Publishers Weekly, 8/4/09; Dewey Author Gets Million-Dollar Deal at Dutton; indicates doubt about movie — says Streep is “supposedly attached to star.”
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Movie Title: Edgar Sawtelle
Studio: Universal Pictures
Producers: Playtone’s Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman with Harpo Films partners Oprah Winfrey and Kate Forte
Status: Wentworth Miller hired to replace William Boyles Jr. as screenwriter (Hollywood Reporter, 8/13/12)
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Movie Title: Magic Kingdom for Sale – Sold!
Status: Steven Carrell to play lead (Hollywood.com, 3/9/12); Series optioned (BrooksBlog, 1/29/12)
Based on: Magic Kingdom for Sale – Sold!, by Terry Brooks (RH/Del Rey, 1986); first in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series.
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Movie Title: Darkfever
Status: Rights acquired to the entire Fever series by DreamWorks in Aug., 2011 (Variety, 8/19/11); may film in Ireland (IFTN, 10/18/11)
Based on: Karen Marie Moning’s best selling five-book The Fever series
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Movie Title: Satori
Status: Right acquired by Warner Bros.
Based on: Winslow, Satori (Grand Central, 3/7/11), the prequel to Shibumi, by Trevanian (1979)
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Movie Title: Peace Like a River
Status: Tate Taylor (The Help) working on script, (The Wrap, 9/24/11)
Based on: Novel by Lief Enger
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Movie Title: The 39 Clues
Status: Dreamworks “ramping up development: (The Wrap, 9/24/11)
Based on: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan
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Movie Title: Inherent Vice
Status: Robert Downey Jr. considering lead (Deadline, 2/19/11)
Based on: Novel by Thomas Pynchon
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Movie Title: The Giver
Director: David Yates
Based on: YA novel by Lois Lowry
Status: Lowry says she doubts the film will ever be made (Entertainment Weekly, “Inside Movies,” 10/2/12). Rights were originally acquired 15 years ago by Jeff Bridges, who planned to have his father, Lloyd Bridges, star in it. His father died in 1988 and last year Jeff Bridges announced he would star himself.
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Movie Title: Every Secret Thing
Starring: Diane Lane (Deadline, 8/10/10)
Based on: Every Secret Thing, Laura Lippman
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Movie Title: The Osterman Weekend
Status: Deadline, 8/4/10 reports that Robert Schwentke may direct.
Based on: The Osterman Weekend, Robert Ludlum
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Movie Title: Shadow Divers
Status: Deadline, 8/4/10 reports that Robert Schwentke may direct.
Based on: Shadow Divers, Robert Kurson, Random House, 2004
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Movie Title: Skippy Dies
Director: Neil Jordan
Status: Reported in Deadline, 8/2/10
Based on: Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (on the 2010 Booker long list)
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Movie Title: Shoe Addicts Anonymous
Director: Paul Weiland
Status: Halle Berry signed to star (Deadline, 7/21)
Based on: Shoe Addicts Anonymous, Beth Harbison (St. Martins, 2007)
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Movie Title: The Contortionist’s Handbook
Status: Channing Tatum signed to star, production to begin early next year; Deadline, 8/10/10
Based on: Debut novel by Craig Clevenger, Macadam Cage, 2003
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Movie Title: Cleopatra, 2011
Director: Not named yet
Status: Scott Rudin has the film rights. David Fincher to direct, after James Cameron dropped out to turn his attention to Avatar sequels (Deadline, 3/22/11)
Based on: Cleopatra, Stacy Schiff, (Little, Brown, 11/01/10)
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Movie Title: All Quiet on the Western Front
Status: Daniel Radcliffe has signed to star; shooting likely to start in 2012 (ReelBollywood, 6/26/10)
Based on: book by Erich Maria Remarque
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Movie Title: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Status: Oprah’s Harpo Films and Alan Ball were to produce for HBO
Based on: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
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Movie Title: A Wrinkle in Time
Status: Screenwriter hired, 3/10 (Variety)
Based on: A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle
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Movie Title: The Lost Symbol
Director:
Starring: Tom Hanks
Status: Script being rewritten by Dan Brown (The Playlist, 12/21/10)
Based on: The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
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Movie Title: Blood Meridian
Director: Ridley Scott
Status: In an interview in Nov., 2008, Ridley Scott said the screenplay is written, but that the material is so violent, that “maybe it’s something that should be left as a novel.”
Based on: Book by Cormac McCarthy
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Movie Title:The Passage
Status: Rights acquired (Variety, 7/19/07); Book to be pubbed 6/6/10 (WSJ, 1/15/10)
Based on: The Passage by Justin Cronin
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Movie Title: Shiver
Status: Rights optioned (Variety, 9/29/09)
Based on: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
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Movie Title: Netherland, 2013
Status: Article on director Sam Mendes notes he is still attached (Film School Rejects, 3/6/13)
Producers: Harpo Films, Sam Mendes
Based on: Netherland, Joseph O’Neill (Pantheon, 2008)
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Movie Title: Shining City, 2011
Status: Article on Fox mentions that Michelle Morgan is writing screenplay for Warner Bros. (Deadline, 8/22/12)
Director: Jason Winer
Based on: Shining City, Seth Greenland (Bloomsbury, 2008)
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Movie Title: The Diary of Anne Frank, 2011, (exact title not yet released) — Variety, 8/11/09
Producers: David Mamet and Andrew Braunsberg
Studio: Disney
Status: Mamet script rejected by studio as too dark (The Wrap, 9/23/2009)
Based on: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank and the play based on the book by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich
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Movie Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns, 2011
Status: Variety reported (10/28/08) that it was being adapted for Sony
Based on: Novel of the same title by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead, 2007)
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Movie Title: Dune
Director: Peter Berg
Status: scrapped (Deadline, 3/22/11)
Based on: Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi epic
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Movie Title: Beautiful Boy/Tweak Project
Studio: Paramount Pictures (Variety)
Status: listed as “in development” on IMDP as of 4/6/13, with Cameron Crowe rumored as director and Brad Pitt as producer.
Based on:
- Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction, David Sheff, (Houghton Mifflin, Feb. 2)
- Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines, Nic Sheff’, (Ginee Seo Books/S&S, Feb. 2008)
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Movie Title: Beat the Reaper
Status: Bought by HBO in late 2011 (The Wrap, 12/12/11)
Based on: Josh Bazell’s novel Beat the Reaper, (Little, Brown, 2009)
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Movie Title: Angelology
Status: Screenwriter assigned, (Deadline, 2/2/12)
Studio: Columbia
Based on: Angelology, Danielle Trussoni, (Viking, March 9, 2010)
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Movie Title: Crazy for the Storm
Studio: Warner Bros.
Status: Sean Penn directing, Josh Brolin is in talks to star (Variety, 8/21/12). Listed as on of two movies Penn has in “pre-production” as director on IMDB as of 4/6/13
Based on: Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival by Norman Ollestad (Ecco, 6/09)
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Movie Title: Florence of Arabia
Status: Listed as “in development” on IMDB as of 4/6/13, with Charlize Theron as producer
Based on: Florence of Arabia, Christopher Buckley (Random House, 2004)
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Movie Title: The Parsifal Mosaic
Director: Ron Howard (Variety, 7/29/09)
Studio: Universal
Status: in and article on the status of Robert Ludlum adaptations, producer Ben Smith said that “We are very actively working with the incredibly talented Ron Howard who is attached to direct,” (The Playlist, 5/8/12)
Based on: The Parsifal Mosaic, Robert Ludlum (Random House, 1982)
LOST IN PRODUCTION
Movie Title: Robopocalypse
Director: Steven Spielberg
Status: Spielberg announced in January, 2013, that he has abandoned the project.
Based on: Novel by Daniel H. Wilson
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Movie Title: Paradise Lost
Director: Alex Proyas
Status: CANCELLED – The Playlist, 2/9/12
Based on: Poem by John Milton
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Movie Title: Brave New World
Director: Ridely Scott
Status: Scott reveals why it may never be made (Collider, 5/31/12)
Based on: Book by Aldous Huxley
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Movie Title: At the Mountains of Madness
Status: CANCELLED (Deadline, 3/7/11)
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast:
Ron Perlman … Larson
Status: Pre-production; James Cameron producing
Based on: Novella by HP Lovecraft
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Movie trilogy & TV series: The Dark Tower
Director, first feature films & first season of TV series: Ron Howard
Status: CANCELLED. It was supposed to begin filming in Sept. 2011, but Universal passed, due to the costs; HBO was set to run the TV series. Director Ron Howard has now turned his attention to a film on formula one racing, Rush. (Reelz, 11/3/11)
Based on: Dark Tower series by Stephen King
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Movie Title: Yiddish Policemen’s Union
Status: Variety reported (10/28/08) that the Coen brothers are in the process of adapting it; on list of 8 Promised Movies That Still Haven’t Been Made (Film School Rejects, 11/16/11)
Based on: Novel of the same title by Michael Chabon
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Movie Title: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Based on: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Status: Scott Rudin bought the rights to the novel before its publication in 2000. Steven Daldry, who has been attached to direct since 2004, said in an interview that he is interested in doing it as a mini-series for HBO (Collider, 12/15/11).
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Movie Title: The Lost City of Z
Director: James Gray
Starring: Brad Pitt — No longer attached
Status: Paramount “Pulled the plug” on it; James Gray and Brad Pitt in plans to make The Gray Man (The Playlist, 8/15/11)
Based on: The Lost City of Z, David Grann, (Doubleday, Feb, 2009)
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Movie Title: The Devil in the White City
Based on: Book by Eric Larson
Status: 11/13/10 Variety lists it as either a “dead project or on life support”
11/1/10 Deadline reports that Leonardo DiCaprio is working to acquire the rights and will star.
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Movie Title: Den of Thieves
Based on: Book by James B. Stewart
Status: 11/13/10 Variety lists it as either a “dead project or on life support”
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Movie Title: The Alienist
Based on: Novel by Caleb Carr
Status: 11/13/10 Variety lists it as either a “dead project or on life support”
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Movie Title: Friday Night Knitting Club
Status: It was supposed to release in June 6, 2008, starring Julie Roberts, but it never materialized.
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Movie Title: Geek Love
Status: According to WWD (Feb, 2008):
Warner Bros. owns the film rights, and Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton have long been rumored to be involved. Now the Matrix-creating Wachowski siblings are producing, but they are currently focused on Speed Racer, [which came out May, 08]
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Movie Title: Secret History
Status: According to WWD (Feb, 2008):
Director Alan J. Pakula (All the President’s Men, Sophie’s Choice) optioned the book before it was published, enlisting literary couple Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne to write the screenplay. Through the years, other writers took a crack at the adaptation, and in 2001 Gwyneth Paltrow signed on to produce, with her brother Jake set to direct. But the literary rights have since reverted back to Tartt.
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Movie Title: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Status: According to WWD (Feb, 2008):
New Line paid a staggering $2 million to option the book shortly after it was published, but the path from tome to screen seemed problematic from the beginning. Initially, there was a dispute between Eggers and his then agent, who sued him, claiming Eggers hadn’t paid the commission on the deal. Later, Nick Hornby and D.V. DeVincentis started work on a screenplay, but it never went into production, and New Line eventually gave up on the project. It languished for years before the rights reverted back to Eggers.
Producing are Diane Nabatoff (“Narc”), Allan Mindel (“My Own Private Idaho”) and Will Raee, with Raee to direct from a script by Stephanie Pinola and Karen Croner. Producers are eyeing a first-quarter shoot. Thurman’s also producing.
Story’s based on Kathy Cook’s book “Stolen Angels,” which follows the 1996 raid at a boarding school, where a band of armed rebels abducted young girls to turn them into soldiers and sex slaves.
