Horns by Joe Hill

VARIETY: Mandalay sprouts 'Horns'

Film unit options rights to upcoming novel

By MARC GRASER

Mandalay Pictures has optioned the film rights to the upcoming novel "Horns," penned by Joe Hill, son of Stephen King.

Novel is described as a love story driven by horror and vengeance that revolves around a 26-year-old man who wakes up one morning from a blackout hangover and finds horns sprouting out of his head. As the horns grow bigger by the day, the reason why seems to lie in the unsolved murder of his girlfriend.

Book will be published by William Morrow in February.

Deal for "Horns" becomes the latest project for Mandalay as its pursues a strategy, spearheaded by prexy Cathy Schulman, to option properties and develop them inhouse before seeking financing or shopping them to the studios. Effort is seen as a way to speed up the development process while also maintaining more creative control.

Mandalay has already packaged best-selling novels -- Lauren Weisberger's "Chasing Harry Winston" and Spencer Quinn's "Dog on It" -- before selling them to Universal, where Mandalay has a first-look deal.

Mandalay topper Peter Guber and Schulman will produce "Horns" at Mandalay, while Hill serves as an executive producer.

Hill's first novel, "Heart-Shaped Box," was picked up by Warner Bros.

Hill uses an abbreviated version of his middle name (Hillstrom) so as not to be immediately associated with his famous father. Few people were aware of his parentage until the Daily Variety story on "Heart-Shaped Box" was published in 2006.

Over the past year, Mandalay has also optioned and is developing Liquid Comics' "Ramayan 3392 A.D.," Larry Beinhart's book "Salvation Boulevard" and Oni Press' graphic novel "Julius."

Mandalay is prepping "The Untitled Elephant Project" at New Line and Warner Bros., "When Dads Were Men" at CBS and "Sinatra" with Martin Scorsese at U.

Bitch is the New Black by Helena Andrews

Film rights to Journalist Helena Andrews's memoir BITCH IS THE NEW BLACK, a satirical, closely observed look at the new generation of young, successful black women in Washington DC with all the hope of Obama's new order, to Miramax Films with Betsy Beers and Shonda Rhimes (GREY'S ANATOMY) producing, and Andrews writing the screenplay, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Howard Yoon at the Gail Ross Literary Agency.

Knife Fight by Joel Goldman

Television rights to Joel Goldman's KNIFE FIGHT, to Sony Pictures Television with 25C Productions producing, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Meredith Bernstein at the Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency.

The Perfect Fiance by Michele McPhee

Film rights to Michele McPhee's book on the Craigslist killer, optioned to Sony TV, to be produced by Judith Verno, by Jody Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano

Film rights to David Cristofano's THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE, about a woman who after 20 years in witness protection decides to trust the son of the mobster who she's been running from since she was a little girl, to Mark Johnson's Gran Via Productions (THE NOTEBOOK, MY SISTER'S KEEPER) and Julie Lynn (THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB), by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Pamela Harty at The Knight Agency.

Oliver Nocture by Kevin Emerson

Film rights to Kevin Emerson's OLIVER NOCTURNE books, about a vampire boy in Seattle whose supernatural destiny is to liberate the vampires from earth, a feat that will destroy the world in the process, along with the human friends he holds dear; to Overbrook Entertainment (HANCOCK, I AM LEGEND), by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of George Nicholson at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Dinotrux by Chris Gall

Film rights to artist Chris Gall's DINOTRUX, an illustrated children's book about bionic part truck-part dinosaurs similar to Transformers, who roamed the earth and battled each other millions of years ago, to DreamWorks Animation for a 3-D feature film, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf George Nicholson at Sterling Lord Literistic.

VARIETY: DreamWorks to drive 'Dinotrux'

Animation studio options rights to kiddie book

By Michael Fleming

DreamWorks Animation has optioned rights to "Dinotrux," an illustrated children's book that will be developed as a CG-animated film. Deal was for mid-six figures.

Written by Chris Gall, the 32-page book takes place in a fictional prehistoric age, when the world was ruled by Dinotrux, creatures that were part trucks, part dinosaurs, with species like the Craneosauraus, Garbageadon and Tyrannosaurus Trux plowing and bulldozing their way across the terrain.

The title characters will be talking creatures.

Gall is a commercial illustrator who has written three other books. "Dinotrux" will be published in April by Little, Brown.

Hotchkiss and Associates brokered the deal for Sterling Lord.

Grandma's Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast by Clete Smith

Film rights to Clete Smith's GRANDMA'S INTERGALACTIC BED & BREAKFAST, about a boy who goes to visit his hippie grandmother for the first time and discovers that her inn is a portal for comical aliens from all over the universe -- a secret that, until now, she has been able to keep from her small town, to Walt Disney for Mandeville Films (Beverly Hills Chihuahua) to produce, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of George Nicholson at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Down River by John Hart

Film rights to Edgar Award winner John Hart's DOWN RIVER, about a man whose world disintegrates when he returns to his home town five years after being arrested for a murder charge, to Gil Adler (VALKYRIE, SUPERMAN RETURNS) and Articulus Entertainment, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Mickey Choate at The Choate Agency.

Looking at Animals by Josh Goldfaden

Film rights to Josh Goldfaden's LOOKING AT ANIMALS short story, from his collection HUMAN RESOURCES, about a retired nature photographer who now observes the behavior of his suburban neighbors, to Big Beach Films (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) for a short film, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Alex Glass at Trident Media Group.

Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander

Film rights to New Yorker writer and This American Life correspondent Shalom Auslander's FORESKIN'S LAMENT, a memoir describing his Orthodox Jewish upbringing like a sardonic Portnoy, imagining worst-case scenarios that would be "so God," to writer/director Ric Cantor (Da Ali G. Show) for Steve Golin (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Babel) to produce, by Hotchkiss and Associates.

Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan

Television rights to I Know What You Did Last Summer author Lois Duncan's STRANGER WITH MY FACE, about a perfect high school student whose malevolent identical twin inhabits her through astral projection and wreaks havoc on her life, to Lifetime with Jaffe/Braunstein Films (The Memory Keeper's Daughter) producing, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of George Nicholson at Sterling Lord Literistic.

In His Sights by Kate Brennan

Television rights to Kate Brennan's IN HIS SIGHTS, the true story of a smart, successful writer who has been stalked by the same man for 13 years (and continues to live in hiding today), to Sony Pictures Television, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates.

Maisie Dobbs By Jaqueline Winspear

TV rights to New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear's series featuring psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs, to Sally Head Productions, producer of the Prime Suspect series, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Amy Rennert.

Killing Rommel By Steven Pressfield

Film rights to Steven Pressfield's KILLING ROMMEL, the WWII story of the elite Long Range Desert Group of soldiers whose mission was to assassinate the German Field Marshal by tracking him commando-style through the unforgiving North African desert in a small, fast convoy of light trucks bristling with fire power like Mad Max, to Walt Disney Pictures and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, with Pressfield adapting along with Randall Wallace, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Sterling Lord at Sterling Lord Literistic.

House of Night By PC and Kristin Cast

NYT bestselling authors PC Cast and Kristin Cast's HOUSE OF NIGHT series, set in the school where young "marked" students train to become adult vampires, to Michael Birnbaum at Empire Pictures (JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE, BANDITS), by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Meredith Bernstein at the Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency.

Throttle By Joe Hill and Stephen King

Joe Hill and Stephen King's THROTTLE novella, written for the anthology He Is Legend: Celebrating Richard Matheson, about a father and son in a tough motorcycle gang, which is attacked by a phantom big-rig truck until the identity of the truck driver is revealed in a shocking finale, to producer Nick Wechsler (The Road, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Rapture), by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Mickey Choate at The Choate Agency.

Tim Gautreaux Short Story Collections

Film rights to Tim Gautreaux's stories in the collections SAME PLACE SAME THINGS and WELDING WITH CHILDREN, about the rich and varied characters in small-town America to screenwriter/director/producer George Lavoo (REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES (HBO), A DOG YEAR (HBO)), by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Peter Matson at Sterling Lord Literistic.

The Brotherhoods By Det. Bill Oldham And Guy Lawson

Television rights to Det. Bill Oldham and Guy Lawson's THE BROTHERHOODS, about Oldham's twenty-year investigation tracking down NYPD cops Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito who became hit-men for the Mob, to HBO, for a five-hour mini-series with Dick Wolf (Law and Order) and Tom Thayer (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) to produce, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Salisbury Literary Agency.

Fortune's Children By Arthur Vanderbilt

Television rights to Arthur Vanderbilt's FORTUNE'S CHILDREN: The Saga of the Vanderbilt Family, about the super-wealthy in Ragtime-era New York City at the turn of the century, to HBO, for Joel Silver (THE MATRIX) to produce, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Peter Matson at Sterling Lord Literistic.