This week: Two of publishing's biggest stars take their turns at the Hollywood plate. Plus, Chicago—the next TriBeCa?
Denizens of L.A.'s shady underbelly can rest a little easier. Harry Bosch, the L.A.P.D. homicide detective who's moved millions of books while purging the city of its seamier elements, is nowhere to be found in Michael Connelly's new thriller, The Lincoln Lawyer, due out from Little, Brown this October. Attorneys aren't usually accorded the most sympathetic treatment by the ex—crime reporter, so Connelly's fans might be surprised to see one driving the action this time around. In the novel, a defense lawyer suspects that his latest client may have actually committed a murder for which another client—one whom he believed was guilty—was sentenced to prison. Several of Hollywood's biggest actors have expressed interest in playing Bosch over the years, but of Connelly's 15 published novels, only the Clint Eastwood—directed Blood Work (a non-Bosch novel) has made it to the screen. One week after Intellectual Property Group's Joel Gotler submitted Lincoln, Lakeshore Entertainment took it off the table.
Producers hoping for a shot at the latest novel from the author of The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules will apparently have to sit this one out. CAA's Bob Bookman has told several top execs inquiring about John Irving's upcoming Until I Find You that he'll be giving it to producer Richard Gladstein for the town. Gladstein is the former Miramax exec who oversaw the production of 1999's Cider House, and steered it to five Oscar nominations and two wins. Random House will publish the 848-page doorstopper—about an actor in Hollywood and his childhood quest to help his tattoo artist mother find his missing father—this July. Pedigreed authors selling their works to Hollywood rarely know what to expect until the premiere (that is, if they're even invited). For every success story such as The Hours starring Meryl Streep there's The Bonfire of the Vanities starring Melanie Griffith. Clearly, Cider House is one of the more gratifying Hollywood experiences for Irving: his 2001 novel, The Fourth Hand, is dedicated to Cider House director Lasse Hallström and Gladstein.
Briefs... With the recent option of Liza Ward's Outside Valentine (Holt, Sept. 2004), Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater Company may soon make its hometown as famous for its indie film scene as for its deep-dish pizza and Oprah. Steppenwolf launched its film division a few years ago with an adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent. The project is scheduled to go this fall, with Sideways's Jim Taylor co-writing and directing—not bad for a freshman effort. Through the company's theater productions, Steppenwolf film head Tim Evans gains instant access to a pool of writers, directors and actors. In what amounts to a small-scale version of the old studio system, Evans looks to create film opportunities for talent within Steppenwolf. Ward, whom the current issue of the U.K.'s Saga magazine hails as "one of the U.S.'s most promising novelists," burnishes the division's already prestigious literary slate. Other books in development include Sherwood Kiraly's Diminished Capacity (Berkley, 1995) and Jean Thompson's Wide Blue Yonder (S&S, 2002). Ward is represented by Rob McQuilkin of Lippincott Massie McQuilkin. Intellectual Property Group's Justin Manask brokered the film deal.
e-mail: HollywoodReader@earthlink.net
