Giffin's Happy Marriage
Who says cheaters never prosper? In a twist on the traditional rom-com formula, Rachel, the 30-something heroine of Emily Giffin's debut novel, Something Borrowed (St. Martin's, 2004), falls into bed with her best friend's fiancé but comes to the realization that her former best pal, Darcy, is actually the jerk, and she keeps the guy for herself. Such plots are like manna to producer Joni Sighvatsson (A Thousand Acres; Wild at Heart), who optioned the title with Palomare Entertainment in a high six-figure deal. Something Blue, Giffin's 2005 follow-up to Borrowed, has the same plot as the first book—but told from Darcy's perspective—and may well appear as "something new" on an upcoming deals list. Attorney Nina Reznick negotiated the film deal on behalf of the Imprint Agency's Stephany Evans, who reps Giffin for lit.
A Wildwood Walk
As if running the Sundance Film Festival—now celebrating its 25th anniversary—in Park City, Utah, wasn't enough, film legend Robert Redford is actively developing two separate projects based on two disparate books through his Wildwood shingle. First up is the travelogue A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Broadway, 1998), Bill Bryson's account of taking the 2,100-mile trek, accompanied only by his curmudgeonly old college buddy (Paul Newman?). Redford is also behind an adaptation of Neil Gordon's The Company You Keep (Viking, 2003), the story of a lawyer who's forced to go on the lam after he is unmasked as an ex-'60s militant wanted for a deadly bank robbery.
Briefs...
Revolution Studios has snapped up the rights to Galt Niederhoffer's debut novel, A Taxonomy of Barnacles (St. Martin's, 2005). The King Lear meets The Royal Tenenbaums—style tale follows the travails of Upper East Side sisters Bell, Bridget, Beth, Belinda, Beryl and Benita Barnacle as they each try to secure their father's sizable inheritance.... Fall 2006 Putnam release Demon Keeper, prosecutor Royce Buckingham's novel about a Seattle teen who discovers his house is infested with supernatural beings, has been optioned by Fox 2000. AEI's Ken Atchity and Chi-Li Wong will produce the live-action tale, along with coproducer Mike Kuciak.
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