House of Night by PC Cast and Kristin Cast

VARIETY: Davis Films bites for 'Night'

Vampire book series eyed for bigscreen franchise

By ANDREW STEWART

Davis Films, the company behind the "Resident Evil" franchise, has bought feature rights to mother-daughter authors P.C. and Kristin Cast's young-adult vampire series "House of Night."

Acquired as another potential franchise for Davis Films, "House of Night" centers on a 16-year-old girl named Zoey Redbird, who's sent to a special boarding school after learning she is genetically earmarked to become a "vampyre" in adolescence, or killed in the process.

The series has sold more than 12 million copies in the U.S. and has been on the New York Times bestseller list for a record 140 weeks, with versions in a total 39 countries. Series' ninth installment, "Destined," hit bookshelves on Oct. 25.

Davis Films topper Samuel Hadida credited the Cast writing duo for penning a series with worldwide appeal.

"They have created a world of adolescent growth against a backdrop of supernatural suspense that resonates around the world with young readers immersed in 'Twilight' and 'Harry Potter,'" Hadida said. "We see with 'House of Night' the same franchise potential."

Deal was negotiated by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates and Meredith Bernstein on behalf of the authors.

April Woo books by Leslie Glass

TV Rights to Leslie Glass's series of APRIL WOO books, covering 9 novels published over 12 years, about the Chinese-American police officer who becomes the first female head of detectives in Coney Island, to CBS with Apostle (RESCUE ME) producing and Amy Bloom (STATE OF MIND) writing, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates.

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY: CBS Developing Cop Drama Based On Leslie Glass' April Woo Book Series

Leslie Glass' popular April Woo series of suspense novels is headed to TV. CBS has bought a drama procedural based on the nine mystery books that hails from Denis Leary and Jim Serpico's Apostle production banner and CBS TV Studios. Novelist and TV writer Amy Bloom, creator of the Lifetime series State of Mind, will write the script and executive produce the project with Leary and Serpico. Glass' April Woo mystery series center on the title character, a brilliant young Chinese-American who becomes the first female head of detectives in Coney Island, New York. Raised in the traditions of modesty, good manners and quiet self-effacement, she is hardly a perfect fit to tackle Coney Island's connected families, drug deals on the Boardwalk, feminist strippers, and corrupt politicians. The project stems from Apostle's first-look deal with CBS TV Studios for network TV.

Developing a drama series with a female Asian lead is a major step in diversity for the broadcast networks. It follows CBS' recent casting of black actors as the leads of three high-profile procedurals: LL Cool J on NCIS: LA, Laurence Fishburne on CSI and Forest Whitaker on Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. It also comes on the heels of CBS' sister network launching the first major drama series with an Asian actress as the title character, thriller Nikita starring Maggie Q. The April Woo series spans nine novels published over 12 years: Burning Time (1993), Hanging Time (1995), Loving Time (1996), Judging Time (1998), Stealing Time (1999), Tracking Time (2000), The Silent Bride (2002), A Killing Gift (2003), A Clean Kill (2005). Bloom and Apostle are repped by WME.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

TV series rights to Barry Lyga's I HUNT KILLERS, a dark thriller about a teen boy who uses his killer instinct, inherited from his serial killer father, to help solve a series of gruesome murders, to Warner Brothers Television with Silver Pictures (VERONICA MARS, SHERLOCK HOLMES) producing on behalf of Kathleen Anderson at Anderson Literary Management, by Hotchkiss and Associates.

VARIETY: WBTV to develop 'Killers' novel

Studio acquires rights to 2012 book

By DAVE MCNARY, JON WEISMAN

Warner Bros. TV has acquired rights to young-adult novel "I Hunt Killers" and plans to develop the project as a series with producer Joel Silver.

"Killers," written by Barry Lyga and scheduled to be published by Little Brown in April, concerns a teenager whose father is a jailed serial killer. Using his own knowledge, the teen tracks down other serial killers while remaining wary of his own potentially murderous impulses.

Hotchkiss & Associates, Anderson Literary Management and attorney Tom Collier of Sloan, Offer, Weber and Dern helped broker the deal.

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 the author's Orthodox Jewish upbringing like a sardonic Portnoy, imagining worst-case scenarios that would be "so Old Testament," to Killer Films (FAR FROM HEAVEN), Epoch Films (JUNEBUG) and Anne Carey (THE AMERICAN, ADVENTURELAND) with the author writing the screenplay, by Hotchkiss and Associates.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Film rights to NYT Bestselling author Jay Asher and Printz Honor-winning author Carolyn Mackler's THE FUTURE OF US, in which two best friends log onto AOL in 1996 and discover a window to their future Facebook selves, to Warner Brothers, with Di Novi Pictures (SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS) producing, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary Agency for Asher and Jodi Reamer at Writers House for Mackler. DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY

Warner Bros Grabs 'The Future Of Us'

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros made a fast deal Friday for screen rights to The Future of Us, a novel by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. Denise Di Novi's Di Novi Pictures will produce. Fox was also in the mix. The book is set in 1996, when a young girl gets the Internet at home for the first time. When she logs on, up pops a strange website. It's her Facebook profile from 15 years in the future, and she and her best friend try to change themselves to fit into or reject their future lives. Subtle decisions drastically influence who they become. Asher wrote 13 Reasons Why, a first novel that has become a big international bestseller and which is being developed at Universal as a star vehicle for Selena Gomez to star and Strike Entertainment to produce. Mackler wrote The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things. The Future of Us will be published in November by Razorbill, with a 500,000-copy first printing. Hotchkiss and Associates' Sean Daily made the deal with Andrea Brown Literary Agency and Writers House.

Wizard of Lies by Diana Henriques

Film rights to NYT bestselling journalist Diana Henriques' THE WIZARD OF LIES, about Bernie Madoff, from her personal prison interviews, as well as several friends, associates and family members; to HBO for Robert De Niro to play Madoff, by Hotchkiss and Associates on behalf of Frederica S. Friedman & Company.

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY: Robert De Niro Dealing To Play Bernie Madoff For HBO Movie Of 'The Wizard Of Lies'

EXCLUSIVE: Diane Henriques' non-fiction book recounting of the life and lies of imprisoned swindler Bernie Madoff debuts at No. 10 onThe New York Times bestseller list this weekend. The Wizard Of Lies: Bernie Madoff And The Death Of Trust, published on April 26, has been optioned by HBO for a movie, and right now sources tell me that the pay channel is negotiating with Robert De Niro to play Madoff. There's no doubt that the two men definitely look alike. The book is said to be the definitive look at Madoff and his $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Meanwhile, De Niro has personal experience with being bilked: in 2009, Lawrence Salander, a prominent art gallery owner, was charged with bilking a slew of high-profile clients, including De Niro, out of $88 million on high-priced art deals over more than 15 years.

Wings of Madness by Paul Hoffman

VARIETY: Chris Wedge acquires flyboy bio

'Ice Age' creator options 'Madness'

By RACHEL ABRAMS, DAVE MCNARY

In a move that could mark his live-action debut, animation helmer Chris Wedge ("Ice Age") and his Wedge Works World Wide banner have acquired Paul Hoffman's tome "Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight."

"Wings," a biography of eccentric socialite Alberto Santos-Dumont, takes place in turn-of-the-century Paris and chronicles the maverick inventor's obsession with flight. Nikki Levy will oversee the project on behalf of Wedge Works, which has not yet attached a scribe.

Wedge, a co-founder and creative VP of Blue Sky Studios, is in production on "Leafmen" for Fox Animation and Blue Sky. The helmer helped launch the "Ice Age" animated franchise, the third installment of which grossed close to $900 million worldwide.

Wedge is repped by UTA. Deal was made by Hotchkiss and Associates

Eating With The Enemy by Robert Egan and Kurt Pitzer

Deadline Hollywood Daily: HBO Casts James Gandolfini As Jersey Guy Serving Up Ribs And North Korean Diplomacy

By MIKE FLEMING | Monday March 21, 2011

EXCLUSIVE: HBO Films has made a book and life rights deal so that The Sopranos star James Gandolfini can play another New Jersey guy. This time, he's attached to play Bobby Egan, owner of a Hackensack rib joint who became involved in back channel negotiations with North Korea to stop producing nuclear weapons. HBO Films has acquired the book Eating with the Enemy: How I Waged Peace With North Korea from my BBQ Shack in Hackensack, by Egan and Kurt Pitzer. The pic is a co-production between Tribeca Productions and Gandolfini's Atta Boy Productions banner.

Egan, wanting to make a difference, started his unlikely diplomat role by knocking on the door of the North Korean Consulate near the UN and saying, "I want to be your friend." That led Egan to live a double life out of Being There. Calling himself "Kim Jong Il's guy in New Jersey," Egan made four trips to North Korea. After he became the only Westerner appearing in North Korean politburo photos, he was initially considered a controversial figure in the US State Department. But he became a helpful conduit in backdoor nuke talks. In the end, his close friends in the North Korean consulate were recalled to their home country, the underground diplomacy stopped and Egan went back to running his rib joint. Hotchkiss and Associates made the deal.

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Film rights to longtime NYT bestseller Jay Asher's THIRTEEN REASONS WHY, about a boy who receives a box of mysterious audiotapes from his first love, and follows her recorded voice on a strange night journey to discover why she committed suicide, to Universal Pictures, with July Moon Productions and Strike Entertainment (CHILDREN OF MEN) producing, Jennifer O'Kieffe writing, and Selena Gomez (RAMONA AND BEEZUS) starring, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates on behalf of Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY: Universal Acquires '13 Reasons Why' As Selena Gomez Vehicle

By MIKE FLEMING

EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment have acquired the Jay Asher novel 13 Reasons Why as a star vehicle for Selena Gomez. Strike's Eric Newman and Marc Abraham are producing with Mandy Teefey of July Moon Productions.

Jennifer O'Kieffe has been set to adapt the novel, about a shy California high school student who returns from school to find a box waiting on his doorstep. It contains seven cassette tapes recorded by Hanna Baker, the classmate he had a crush on. Before she committed suicide, Hannah sent the tapes to one classmate with instructions to pass them on to a list of students like a chain letter. The tapes explain to 13 people how they played a role in her death. The book was a bestseller when published in 2007 by the Penguin Books young adult imprint RazorBill. Strike's Kristel Laiblin is exec producer.

Gomez, who stars in the Disney Channel series The Wizards of Waverly Place, starred in the Tom Bezucha-directed Monte Carlo. She's repped by CAA.

Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot by Starr Smith

Film rights to Starr Smith's JIMMY STEWART: BOMBER PILOT, about actor Jimmy Stewart's 20 combat missions flown in WWII, eventually earning him the rank of brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve, to The Gold Co. (SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE), by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Alex Hoyt at Alexander Hoyt Associates.

Knife Fight by Joel Goldman

Hollywood Reporter: CBS Develops Modern-Day Western

CBS is developing a neo-Western crime drama from the creator of CSI and a legal drama based on a story by crime novelist Joel Goldman.

First up is Desperado, about a band of lawmen who enact cowboy-style justice on modern-day criminals in San Antonio.

CSI mastermind Anthony Zuiker is the executive producer, with Hitman 2 scribe Kyle Ward writing and executive producing and Matthew Weinberg co-executive producing. CBS TV Studios and Dare to Pass are the production companies.

If the logline of Desperado sounds just a tad like Justified, well, the producers of that FX drama are working on something different for CBS: Knife Fight, about a female public defender who "becomes a prosecutor in order to pursue the truth."

It's based on a short story by Goldman and has Michael Cuesta (Dexter)  writing, executive producing and directing, and Gerald Cuesta as writer and co-executive producer. Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly (Justified) are executive producing. CBS TV Studios is the producer along with Timberman/Beverly Prods.

Holy Land by D.J. Waldie

VARIETY: James Franco visits 'Holy Land'

Actor options memoir as potential feature

By SAM THIELMAN

James Franco has optioned D.J. Waldie's memoir "Holy Land" for a potential feature.

According to Waldie, Franco read the book in a class at UCLA and "it stuck in his memory.

"Several months ago I was asked through my agent if it was available for option, and of course I said yes."

"Holy Land" is Waldie's chronicle of his life in the sometimes-surreal suburb of Lakewood, Calif. The neighborhood of identical houses, built very quickly in the 1950s, was populated mostly by WWII vets and owned by Jewish businessmen who would have been prevented from living there because of their heritage.

The deal was negotiated by Jody Hotchkiss on behalf of Chris Calhoun at Sterling Lord Literistic.

The Reluctant Communist by Charles Robert Jenkins and Jim Frederick

VARIETY: Brett Ratner turns 'Communist'

'Heist' helmer to direct political prisoner's memoir

By SAM THIELMAN

Brett Ratner has optioned Charles Robert Jenkins and Jim Frederick's 2008 memoir "The Reluctant Communist," the story of Jenkins' 1965 desertion and subsequent 40-year imprisonment in North Korea. Ratner is "looking to direct," according to Rat Entertainment's John Cheng, with Ross Katz (HBO's "Taking Chance") writing the screenplay and Cheng producing.

Pic follows Jenkins as he surrenders to the North Koreans while drunk and then undergoes a strange and lengthy prison term.

"He was forced to act in (propaganda) movies as an American bad guy, and he became kind of a celebrity," Cheng said. "People would come up to him on the street, because they recognized him from the films."

Cheng added that Rat hopes to set the film up at a studio, but no actors were attached.

Rat Entertainment has been busy recently -- Seth Gordon just wrapped principal photography on the shingle's Christmas comedy "Horrible Bosses" and Ratner is in pre-production on Universal's Noah Baumbach-scripted Ben Stiller starrer "Tower Heist."

Mosh Potatoes by Steve Seabury

Television rights to Steve Seabury's MOSH POTATOES: RECIPES, ANECDOTES AND MAYHEM FROM THE HEAVYWEIGHTS OF HEAVY METAL, to RIVR Media (WHALE WARS, TRADING SPACES), by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates on behalf of Mansion Street Literary Management.

Who Killed My Daughter by Lois Duncan

Television rights to Lois Duncan's WHO KILLED MY DAUGHTER, about the murder of the author's daughter in New Mexico and how botched police work led Duncan to take the investigation into her own hands, to Jaffe Braunstein Productions (THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER, THE TENTH CIRCLE) for the Lifetime Network, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of George Nicholson at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Wings of Madness by Paul Hoffman

Film rights to Paul Hoffman's WINGS OF MADNESS, the biography of the eccentric and tortured aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont in turn-of-the-century Paris, who believed that airplanes would unite the world in peace, but who was driven mad by their deadly use in World War I; to screenwriters Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson (THE FIGHTER with Mark Wahlberg) by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Peter Matson at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Freeheld by Cynthia Wade

Hollywood Reporter: Ellen Page to star in 'Freeheld'

Cynthia Wade's doc expanding to a feature film

CANNES -- Endgame Entertainment is developing a dramatic feature based on Cynthia Wade's award-winning short documentary "Freeheld," with Ellen Page set to star.

Ron Nyswaner, an Oscar nominee for "Philadelphia," is writing the screenplay based on the true story of New Jersey car mechanic Stacie Andree, who'll be played by Page, and her police detective girlfriend Laurel Hester, who both battled to secure Hester's pension benefits after she was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Wade's doc won the Oscar for best short documentary in 2008.

The Endgame-financed film will be produced by Endgame's James D. Stern, Double Feature Films' Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, Vie Entertainment's Kelly Bush, and Wade. Endgame's Doug Hansen and Adam Del Deo will exec produce.

"As a documentarian and feature producer, you always look for powerful stories with subject matter that will resonate with audiences, and Cynthia's remarkable chronicle of the battle forged by two women did just that," Stern said.

Nyswaner's adaptation of "Hamlet" for director Catherine Hardwicke is currently in production; he is repped by UTA. Page, repped by WME and Vie Entertainment, will next be seen opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Christopher Nolan's upcoming "Inception."

Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa

Film rights to Anthony De Sa's BARNACLE LOVE, about the wrenching forces that tear a Portuguese immigrant family apart, to singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado's Nelstar Entertainment, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Denise Bukowski at The Bukowski Agency.

Ghost Huntress by Marley Gibson

Film rights to Marley Gibson's GHOST HUNTRESS series, about a sixteen-year-old girl who moves from Chicago to an historic Southern town and begins to discover her latent psychic powers (the third in the series THE REASON, will be published in May) to Shoulderhill Entertainment, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Deidre Knight at The Knight Agency.

Nubs by Brian Dennis, Mary Nethery, and Kirby Larson

Hollywood Reporter: Warner Bros. laps up dog story 'Nubs'

Real-life tale focuses on U.S. marine in Iraq and his mutt

Warner Bros. is going to the dogs, signing on to acquire and develop "Nubs," a feel-good story of a pooch and a U.S. Marine based on a publishing sensation.

The project will reunite Warners with Justin Zackham, the writer of its Jack Nicholson breakout "The Bucket List" two years ago. Zackham will pen and produce the canine tale.

"Nubs" tells the story of a stray dog that Maj. Brian Dennis rescued while on a tour of duty on the front lines in Iraq. After nursing the dog back to health and caring for it as his own, he arranged to have him shipped back to the U.S. and was reunited with the dog when his tour ended.

The story became a media phenomenon in the fall, with Dennis and Nubs making appearances on such programs as "Today," "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

In addition to Dennis' life rights, filmmakers have acquired the top-selling children's book "Nubs: A Marine, a Mutt and a Miracle," which Dennis wrote with Mary Nethery and Kirby Larson. The Little, Brown Books for Young Readers title was published two weeks ago and sits at No. 4 on the New York Times children's best-seller list.

Zackham will produce the pic with his Two Ton Films producing partner Clay Pecorin and with Dan Levine, the former Paramount exec who helped oversee "Cloverfield" and "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" for the studio. Warners has pre-emptively acquired the project, with Jon Berg overseeing for the studio.

The project grew out of a relationship Zackham initiated with Dennis when the Marine was in Iraq, with the screenwriter-producer contacting the soldier after he read reports of the Nubs story.

Those familiar with the project say it has echoes of "Marley & Me," the Fox breakout that grossed $245 million worldwide and focused on complicated relationships between humans -- and complicated relationships between humans and their dogs.

"It's a story that parents can take their kids to but that adults can also go to and appreciate," Zackham said. "It's one of those movies that everyone can take something from."

The terrain of the Iraq War will serve as a backdrop, but the pic is not expected to contain combat scenes.

The Kapital-repped Zackham is writing "One Chance" at Paramount, the story of British opera singing sensation Paul Potts, and he created "Lights Out," the boxing drama that has been picked by FX. He noted that he likes to toggle between dramatizing real stories and inventing new ones.

"Sometimes it's nice to build the house (from scratch), and sometimes it's nice to pick out the furniture," he said.