The Returned by Jason Mott

Deadline Hollywood Daily: ABC Developing High-Concept Drama From Brad Pitt’s Plan B & Brillstein Entertainment

In a late buy, ABC has put in development The Returned, a serialized drama produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and ABC Studios. Written by Aaron Zelman (AMC's The Killing), The Returned is based on the debut novel by Jason Mott, which is slated to be published next September by Mira Books. The rights to the book sparked a bidding war among several production companies and studios. Brillstein and Plan B were able to land the property in their first teaming together, and the project was taken to ABC Studios where Brillstein is based. Executive producing alongside Zelman are JoAnn Alfano and Jon Liebman from BEP and Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner from Plan B.

The Returned is one of several projects BEP has set up this season, including two with CSI creator Anthony Zuiker: soap Tabooat ABC and an Alice In Wonderland sequel at NBC. Zelman is repped by UTA and Circle of Confusion.

Publisher's Marketplace

Jason Mott's THE RETURNED, about a family caught in the center of a worldwide event in which people's deceased loved ones are returning to life, to ABC with Aaron Zelman (THE KILLING, DAMAGES) writing and Plan B Entertainment (TREE OF LIFE) and Brillstein Entertainment (RINGER) producing, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates on behalf of Michelle Brower at Folio Literary Management.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY: ABC Family Developing Series Adaptation Of Novel 'I Hunt Killers' From Joel Silver

By NELLIE ANDREEVA

EXCLUSIVE: ABC Family has teamed with producer Joel Silver to develop I Hunt Killers, a drama series based onBarry Lyga's young-adult novel. The project, from Silver Pictures and Warner Horizon, centers on the teenage daughter of an imprisoned notorious serial killer, a likable girl who becomes a suspect after a string of copy-cat murders. (In the book, the teen is a boy). It will be written by Dexter scribe Arika Mittman, which is appropriate as I Hunt Killers has a similar feel, but with a teenage twist. Silver executive produces, with Mittman serving as co-executive producer and Lyga as consultant.

I Hunt Killers was published by Little Brown this past spring (watch the book's trailer below), with a sequel, Game, set to come out next spring. The book was brought to Silver by the company's feature department, and the project was set up at Warner Bros where Silver was under a deal. ABC Family has had success with series adaptations of young-adult novels, including flagship drama Pretty Little Liars,also produced by Warner Horizon. On the TV side, Silver has had most success with a show with a teenage girl at the center, UPN's Veronica Mars. Mittman is repped by WME and manager Todd Feldman.

Thick as Thieves by Peter Spiegelman

VARIETY: Fox 2000 boards 'Thick as Thieves' Ryan Knighton to pen adaptation of Peter Spiegelman heist thriller

By DAVE MCNARY

Fox 2000 has come onboard for a movie version of Peter Spiegelman's heist thriller "Thick as Thieves," setting up the project with Imagine Entertainment and Film 360.

Brian Grazer, Erica Huggins and Anna Culp will produce for Imagine. Guymon Casady, Ben Forkner and Darin Friedman will produce for Film 360.

Peter Craig, who penned "The Town," is exec producing.

Fox has tapped Ryan Knighton to pen the adaptation of the novel. Knighton is currently finishing another Fox project, adapting Paul Hoffman's nonfiction work "Wings of Madness" and recently adapted "47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers" for Mandalay.

Spiegelman's fifth novel, "Thick as Thieves" was published last year by Knopf. Story centers on an ex-CIA agent who -- following the death of his mentor -- reluctantly takes the mantle as the leader of an elite crew planning a job against one of the world's most dangerous bankers. He discovers that those in his crew are not what they seem to be, including his lover; he must keep them close enough to finish the job and find the mole before he becomes the next target.

Project was developed at Film 360.

Rodney Ferrell is overseeing for Fox 2000.

Hotchkiss and Associates along with Dawn Saltzman at Mosaic repped Knighton. Hotchkiss also made the deal for the novel on behalf of the Denise Marcil Agency

Carson The Magnificent by Bill Zehme

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY: Johnny Carson Estate In Feature Deal For Biopic On Iconic Late-Night Host

By MIKE FLEMING JR.

EXCLUSIVE: Heeeeeeere's a feature film project that has potential. John McLaughlin and producer Tom Thayer have teamed up with the estate of Johnny Carson on a feature film about the life of the venerable Tonight Showhost. The film will be scripted by McLaughlin, who wrote the Darren Aronofsky-directed Natalie Portman-starrer Black Swan and most recently adapted the Sacha Gervasi-directed Hitchcockfrom Steve Rebello's book. Thayer produced that movie, which stars Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren, and he will produce the Carson project. They'll shop McLaughlin's script to buyers right after the holidays.

The film will be based on the upcoming Bill Zehme book Carson The Magnificent: An Intimate Portrait. Zehme, who has written features on late-night combatants Jay Leno and David Letterman, was the only journalist Carson spoke to after his retirement, including an Esquire cover story about how Carson marked the 10th anniversary of abdicating the late-night throne. Zehme was a consultant and appeared in King Of Late Night, the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary on Carson's career.

McLaughlin is working away on the script now. Considering that Carson was in so many American homes on a daily basis through his show, he was a rather private man off the screen. The machinations of the late-night talk show game became full of intrigue and controversy when Carson left, and considering how much the current crop of late-night hosts idolize him, Carson certainly has an enduring legacy. Is it too early to begin speculating about who might play Carson and Ed McMahon?

WME is repping the Carson Estate and Thayer, CAA reps McLaughlin, and Hotchkiss and Associates is representing Zehme on behalf of Sterling Lord Literistic

The Genius Files by Dan Gutman

VARIETY: WB options 'The Genius Files'

Studio acquires feature rights to best-selling children's book series

By RACHEL ABRAMS

Warner Bros. has optioned New York Times best-selling children's book series "The Genius Files" by author Dan Gutman.

Harper Collins has already published two tomes in the six-book sequence. The third novel is skedded to hit stores in January.

Story centers on two pre-adolescent brothers (Coke and Pepsi McDonald) who get into a series of adventures in the name of national security. The brilliant duo keep their activities a secret from their parents, however, as the whole family travels across America in an RV.

Hollywood has adapted Gutman's children's tomes before. TNT turned novel "Honus and Me" into the 2004 TV movie "The Winning Season" starring Matthew Modine. Book was described as a cross between "Field of Dreams" and "Big" and centered around a boy who finds a baseball card which transports him back to the 1909 world series.

Observers have described the "Genius Files" books as in the vein of "Spy Kids" and "Agent Cody banks." Niija Kuykendall will oversee for WB.

Hotchkiss and Associates completed the deal on behalf of Eden Street LLC

Horns by Joe Hill

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Daniel Radcliffe to Star in Fantasy-Thriller 'Horns'

"Horns," directed by Alexandre Aja, is based on the best-selling cult novel by Joe Hill, who will be at Comic-Con this weekend.

Continuing his genre spree, Daniel Radcliffe is set to star in Alexandre Aja's supernatural fantasy-thriller Horns for Red Granite Pictures and Mandalay Pictures.

Earlier this year, the Harry Potter star's The Woman in Blackturned into a sleeper hit at the box office, grossing north of $127 million worldwide.

Horns is based on Joe Hill's best-selling novel. Aja will direct from an adapted screenplay by Keith Bunin.

Radcliffe will play Ig Perrish, the lead suspect in the violent rape and killing of his girlfriend. Hung over from a night of hard drinking, Ig awakens one morning to find horns starting to grow from his head. Their power drives people to confess sins and give in to selfish impulses -- an effective tool in his quest to discover the circumstances of his girlfriend's death and for exacting revenge.

Hill's rock 'n' roll-infused dark fantasy explores why bad things happen to good people and what the loss of true love can do to a man. The book was on The New York Times best-seller list for six weeks and has become an international best-seller as well.

"After reading Joe Hill's cult book, I couldn't resist temptation to dive into the devilish underworld and reinvent a universal myth," Aja said. "Horns is a wild ride of sin and crime, with a love story in its heart."

Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland's Red Granite will finance Horns and co-produce with Mandalay. Producers are Aziz, McFarland, Mandalay Pictures president Cathy Schulman and Adam Stone. Hill will executive produce with Red Granite's Joe Gatta.

Additional casting is underway, with principal photography set to begin this fall. Red Granite Pictures' international sales arm will handle foreign sales for the film.

Red Granite is the production and financing company behind Martin Scorsese's next film The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup

VARIETY: CBS in 'Need' of memoir

Carol Mendelsohn Prods. to develop pic

By RACHEL ABRAMS

CBS TV Studios has optioned Kate Braestrup's memoir "Here If You Need Me" for Carol Mendelsohn Prods. to develop.

Book revolves around how Braestrup coped with the sudden loss of her husband, an aspiring minister who died in a car accident. In the aftermath, Braestrup decided she would follow in his footsteps and became a chaplain for the Maine Warden Service, which conducts search and rescue misions in the state. In that role, the author began comforting families also coping with loss. She is also author of "Beginner's Grace," a non-religious guide to prayer.

Little, Brown and Co. published "Here" in 2007. Deal was made by Brick House Literary Agents and Hotchkiss & Associates.

Mendelsohn is exec producer of the Eye's "CSI" mothership. Her banner is based at CBS TV Studios.

Cedar Cove by Debbie Macomber

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Hallmark Channel Launching First Scripted Series (Exclusive)

Andie MacDowell will film "Cedar Cove," a two-hour TV movie that will serve as a backdoor pilot for the drama, after finishing the first season of ABC Family's "Jane by Design."

Hallmark Channel is throwing its hat in the scripted series arena. The Crown Media-owned cable network has set Cedar Cove, a two-hour telefilm based on the book by Debbie Macomber that will serve as a backdoor pilot for the series.

Andie MacDowell will star as a small-town family court judge in the pic, which will premiere in late 2012, with the series launching early next year, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.

The pic marks the fourth of Macomber's romance novels to get the Hallmark treatment following Mrs. Miracle, Call Me Mrs. Miracle and Trading Christmas; they went on to become the network's most-watched movies of the year in 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively.

"Andie is widely recognized around the world as a gifted actor and a top box-office draw, and there is genuine, mutual excitement today between the network and our star about the new series," Hallmark exec vp programming Michelle Vicary said.

Bruce Graham, who adapted Trading Christmas, will pen the telepic, which hails from Orchard Road Productions. Dan Wigutow, who exec produced all three of Macomber's Hallmark specials, will return to executive produce alongside Caroline Moore, Harvey Kahn, Michael Scott and Allen Lewis. Scott will direct the telepic. A showrunner has not been determined.

Production on the telepic starts in early June. MacDowell will film it after ABC Family'sJane by Design, which is wrapping production on the second half of its first season.

MacDowell is repped by Paradigm, the Schiff Co. and Greenberg Glusker.

Worth pointing out, the Hallmark series comes months after Lifetime adapted its ratings hit telepic The Client List into a drama starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, which has already been renewed for a second season.

The Last Ship by William Brinkley

VARIETY: TNT orders pilot for 'The Last Ship'

Action-adventure comes from exec producer Michael Bay

By STUART LEVINE

TNT has gone forward and ordered the pilot of Michael Bay's action-adventure drama "The Last Ship."

Project, about a global catastrophe where those aboard a naval destroyer are the only survivors, is based on the William Brinkley novel.

Script comes from "Without a Trace" vet Hank Steinberg and Steven Kane, who exec produce with Bay and Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form.

Cabler is having a solid summer. Net just gave a third-season renewal for "Falling Skies" and freshman skein "Dallas" drew 6.9 million for its June 13 debut episode. "Rizzoli & Isles" captured 7.1 million viewers when it debuted June 5 in its new Tuesday timeslot.

Last week Eric McCormack-starrer "Perception" opened to 5.6 million and "The Closer" began its final season with 6.1 million.

However, several of their shows are drawing large numbers in the 25-54 demo, with less in the more ad-desirable 18-49 demo.

Television rights to William Brinkley's THE LAST SHIP, the action/adventure story of the crew of a naval destroyer that is forced to confront the reality of a new existence when a pandemic decimates most of the earth's population, to TNT, with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes producing, by Hotchkiss and Associates on behalf of Sterling Lord at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Flavia de Luce mystery series by Alan Bradley

TV rights to Alan Bradley's NYT bestselling Flavia de Luce mysteries (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, A Red Herring without Mustard, I'm Half-Sick of Shadows), optioned to American Beauty and Revolution Road director Sam Mendes' Neal Street Productions, by Jody Hotchkiss, on behalf of Denise Bukowski at The Bukowski Agency.

VARIETY: Brits savor 'Flavia'

Sam Mendes on TV case for youth sleuth

By DIANA LODDERHOSE

Sam Mendes' shingle Neal Street Prods. has optioned rights to Alan Bradley's New York Times bestselling mystery series "Flavia de Luce" to develop as a television series.

Story, set in a rural village in post-WWII Blighty, follows the adventures of a precocious 11-year-old sleuth named Flavia.

The young girl, a science enthusiast with a particular passion for poison, lives on a family estate with two sinister older sisters and an eccentric widowed father and uses her encyclopedic knowledge to solve murders.

Bradley's series has been sold to publishers in 35 countries and been translated into 31 languages. It has snagged a slew of publishing awards including the Crime Writers' Assn. Debut Dagger Award and the Dilys Award.

TV series will be exec produced by Neal Street's Pippa Harris and Mendes and co-produced by Julie Blumenthal and Wonderful Films' William Horberg.

Neal Street has already had success this year with TV series "Call the Midwife," toplining Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart and Vanessa Redgrave. Series, set in 1950s East End London, became the highest-rated drama series for the BBC since 2001.

"After the success of 'Call the Midwife' we were keen to find another high-quality book series to adapt and luckily discovered Alan Bradley's 'Flavia de Luce' books," said Mendes. "I have always been a fan of the classic British mystery detective genre and 'Flavia de Luce' is a fresh and captivating take on it."

Harris added that the adventures were "rich with multi-layered mysteries, memorable supporting characters and a cinematic period backdrop."

Deal was made on behalf of the Bulkowski Agency by Hotchkiss and Associates.

Neal Street, which was formed in 2003 with Mendes, Harris and Caro Newlin, has produced pics such as "Revolutionary Road" and "Starter for Ten," TV productions such as "Stuart: A Life Backwards" and theater hits such as "Shrek: The Musical" and upcoming production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Defending Jacob by William Landay

VARIETY: WB summons Kloves for 'Defending Jacob'

'Potter' scribe in talks to direct legal thriller; Parent producing

By RACHEL ABRAMS

Warner Bros. is in talks with "Harry Potter" scribe Steve Kloves to write and direct "Defending Jacob," an adaptation of William Landay's legal thriller.

Mary Parent will produce through her Disruption Entertainment banner.

Set in a wealthy Boston suburb, novel follows a district attorney who must leave his day job to defend his son from a murder charge while uncertain of his son's innocence.

Landay's tome has so far spent five months on the New York Times bestseller list and has been compared to novels "Presumed Innocent" and "Ordinary People." Publishing rights for "Jacob" have sold in 17 countries.

Paramount-based Disruption, which Parent set up last year, has ramped up business with projects including Guillermo del Toro's robots-vs.-monsters actioner "Pacific Rim" and New Line's "The Watching Hour."

Kloves wrote seven of the eight "Harry Potter" pics, and he worked on the script for "Akira," as well as Sony's "The Amazing Spider-Man." He previously helmed "The Fabulous Baker Boys" and "Flesh and Bone."

Lynn Harris will oversee "Jacob" for the studio, which is also in talks with Kloves to write, direct and produce WB's live-action take on "The Jungle Book." While deals are not yet signed, sources say "Jacob" would come first for the multihyphenate.

CAA reps Kloves, while the Martell Agency and Hotchkiss and Associates represented dramatic rights to the book.

Deadline Hollywood Daily

Warner Bros Buys Novel 'Defending Jacob'

Warner Bros has acquired screen rights to the William Landay suspense novel Defending Jacob for Mary Parent to produce through her Disruption banner. The novel involves a district attorney in Boston whose son is accused of killing a classmate. As he tries to clear his boy, the DA discovers many things about his son that he didn't know, including the possibility the 14-year old might actually have done it. Alice Martell of The Martell Agency and Jody Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss and Associated brokered the deal.

The Brotherhoods by Guy Lawson and Bill Oldham

Film 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 Warner Bros. with Dan Lin (SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE GANGSTER SQUAD) producing, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Salisbury Literary Agency.

VARIETY: Warners nabs 'Brotherhoods' for Dan Lin

Cops and mobsters drama based true-crime tome

By DAVE MCNARY, RACHEL ABRAMS

Warner Bros. has acquired feature rights to "The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia" and set it up with Warner-based producer Dan Lin.

Studio has tapped Bill Dubuque to adapt the book based on the investigation of former New York City cops. After a turncoat underworld boss fingered officers Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito as mob employees, William Oldham (a cop who worked alongside Caracappa and wrote the book with Guy Lawson) became a special investigator for the U.S. Attorney's Brooklyn office after the NYPD decided not to investigate.

The office eventually found enough evidence to arrest the pair. In 2006, they were convicted of labor racketeering, extortion, narcotics, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, eight counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to life in federal prison.

Mark Bauch at Lin Pictures brought in the book and is co-producer.

Studio is developing the project as a cop action thriller in the vein of "The Departed," which Lin oversaw as a studio exec. He is in post-production for Warners on "Gangster Squad," directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn.

Dubuque is currently writing "The Judge" at Warner Bros. with Robert Downey Jr. attached to star. He previously wrote "The Accountant," which landed on the 2011 Black List.

Courtenay Valenti and Chris Gary are overseeing "The Brotherhoods" for Warner Bros.

Dick Wolf and NBCUniversal originally optioned "Brotherhoods" in 2007. At that point, three other projects based on Caracappa and Eppolito were in the works for Spring Creek, Mandalay and Columbia.

Hotchkiss and Associates negotiated the deal along with Salisbury Literary Agency on behalf of Lawson and Oldham. Paradigm and Zero Gravity rep Dubuque.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

Film Rights to Christopher Healy's THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM, the first in a series set in a world where Prince Charming is not one prince but four, all of whom have serious issues with heroism and complicated relationships with their princesses Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel, to Twentieth Century Fox Animation (ICE AGE, RIO) with Chernin Entertainment producing, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates on behalf of Cheryl Pientka at Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Fox Animation Picks Up Children's Book 'Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom' (Exclusive)

Chernin Entertainment, which was behind "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," is producing.

Fox Animation has acquired the movie rights to children's book The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by first-time author Christopher Healy.

Chernin Entertainment, which produced Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is attached to produce.

The book, which hits shelves May 1, tells the story of the four princes from the classic fairy tales who saved Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty.

In the tome, the princes' due is glossed over by various minstrels, but the four young men -- cast out of their respective castles -- get a shot at redemption and glory when they uncover a plot that could destroy the kingdoms.

The 432-page novel from Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins Children's Books, is the first from Healy, who was a children's entertainment reviewer as well as a haunted house zombie actor before writing Saving Your Kingdom.

Healy is repped by Hotchkiss and Associates and Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan

VARIETY: Stephenie Meyer options tome 'Dark Hall'

'Twilight' producer Wyck Godfrey also in talks to produce

By RACHEL ABRAMS

"Twilight" scribe Stephenie Meyer and Meghan Hibbett's Fickle Fish Films have optioned young-adult suspense tome "Down a Dark Hall" by novelist Lois Duncan and will produce a feature-film adaptation.

Duncan's 1974 novel revolves around Blackwood boarding school and its mysterious students. Ensnared in the chilling world is new student Kit Gordy, who must unravel Blackwood's haunted and tragic history before it's too late. "Twilight" producer Wyck Godfrey is also in talks to produce.

Meyer has taken on more film fare since her books became a global publishing and feature-film phenomenon. She recently produced and financed the Jerusha Hess-helmed "Austenland," a romantic comedy about a woman who travels to a Jane Austen theme park to find her perfect man. That pic, starring Keri Russell and Jane Seymour, is in post-production but is not yet slated for release.

Duncan has penned a number of novels that have made their way to the bigscreen, including "Hotel for Dogs" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer."

Myman Abel Fineman Fox Greenspan Light reps Meyer. Deal for Duncan was made on behalf of Sterling Lord Literistic by Hotchkiss and Associates.

The Madonnas Of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse

Deadline: HBO Adapting Novel 'The Madonnas Of Echo Park' Into Drama Series

EXCLUSIVE: HBO has put in development a drama series project based on the novel The Madonnas Of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse. The project, to be written by award-winning playwright Julia Cho, takes a look at the lives of a community in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in Los Angeles. It explores the relationships -- romantic, professional, familial -- of the Latinos that have built the community over the years, and the hipsters who're making their way in now, examining the complicated dynamic between the two as they struggle to build new lives for themselves in pursuit of the American dream. Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan and British writer Kelly Marcel are executive producing, reuniting after their first collaboration on Terra Nova, which the two executive produced. Terra Nova originated with a 15-page treatment by Marcel, which Kaplan brought to the U.S. For Cho, who will serve as co-executive producer, this marks a return to HBO, where she worked on Big Love. Her TV credits also include a stint on Fringe. She is with WME, Skyhorse is with Jody Hotchkiss.

At HBO, The Madonnas of Echo Park joins another Kapital-produced project, comedy pilot Viagra Diaries, created by Sex And The City's Darren Star and to be directed by Bridesmaids' Paul Feig. Additionally, Kaplan has several other cable projects in development.

At USA, he has the hourlong Finders Keepers. Written by Philip Levens, it is about a former FBI agent and missing persons specialist who finds people by immersing himself in their lives. Levens is with ICM.

At A&E, Kapital Entertainment is developing Dark Heart, a one-hour procedural written by Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle (Paradigm), about a benevolent cop who, after having a massive heart attack, gets the heart of a psychopath. Lionsgate TV is producing.

At Lifetime, the company is behind Drink, a one-hour spec script written by Glenn Porter (UTA), which follows the life of the head of HR at a global alcohol and beverage company who, after suffering a head injury, loses her inhibitions and ability to control her impulse and ends up transforming her company into a hotbed of decadence, soaring profits and ambition.

At Nickelodeon, where Kaplan executive produces the Nick At Nite pilot Wendell & Vinnie starring Jerry Trainor, he has two multi-camera comedy projects in development. One is a comedy about a college student who becomes a "manny" for a family who had been transplanted from England. It is written by Howard Busgang and Tom Nursall (CAA), creators of the NBC comedy pilot Isabel, which Kaplan executive produces. The other is a twins project from Barry Safchik and Michael Platt (Verve). In the vein of Weird Science, it centers on a genius kid who creates a robot in his likeness - yet the two could not be more different.

Kapital's first cable series, The Inbetweeners, launches on MTV later this year. On the broadcast side, Kaplan hasexecutive produced produced two series, Terra Nova and ABC's GCB, and has four pilot currently in contention.

Kiss & Make Up by Katie D. Anderson

Deadline Hollywood Daily: Warner Premiere Options Digital Series Rights For Novel 'Kiss & Make Up'

New York, NY- Amazon Children's Publishing today announced it plans to publish "Kiss & Make Up," the first young adult novel by Oxford, Mississippi author Katie D. Anderson, in October 2012. Associate Publisher Tim Ditlow acquired World English and audio rights to the book from Cheryl Pientka at Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

"Kiss & Make Up" is a magical romantic comedy starring 16-year-old lip gloss addict and unlikely clairvoyant Emerson Taylor, who discovers during her first kiss that she is able to get glimpses of a guy's past when his lips meet hers. She quickly learns how to use her gift to steal secrets, memories, and even test answers from unsuspecting brainy boys. But when a school competition and a secret crush force her to forego her gift and study the old-fashioned way, Emerson risks losing her newfound reputation among the academic elite-and the guy she loves. Set against the glam backdrop of her aunt's top-selling cosmetics business, Emerson's story reveals how she "makes over" her previously selfish ways and finds that true beauty always wins out in the end.

"As the mother of two young girls, my goal is to create books that promote a positive message for young adults. If I can achieve that with a killer hook like a kiss that can read minds, well then, that's all the better," says Anderson.

Warner Premiere won the rights for a live-action digital series based on the novel which is currently in development. Dan Romanelli, an entertainment and consumer products executive, in association with Norm Marshall & Associates, is exploring potential cosmetic partnerships with several major international brands. Sean Daily of Hotchkiss & Associates handled the deal with Warner Premiere.

"We're excited to see so much enthusiasm for Katie's message of empowerment and self-confidence," says Ditlow. "The project has great potential to effectively speak to young readers through a number of different platforms."

Defending Jacob by William Landay

Deadline Hollywood Daily: Warner Bros Buys Novel 'Defending Jacob'

Warner Bros has acquired screen rights to the William Landay suspense novel Defending Jacob for Mary Parent to produce through her Disruption banner. The novel involves a district attorney in Boston whose son is accused of killing a classmate. As he tries to clear his boy, the DA discovers many things about his son that he didn't know, including the possibility the 14-year old might actually have done it. Alice Martell of The Martell Agency and Jody Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss and Associated brokered the deal.

Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

VARIETY: Fox, Shawn Levy fancy 'Fancy Nancy'

21 Laps will develop the Jane O'Connor series

By DAVE MCNARY

Fox is going young with "Fancy Nancy," acquiring rights to the children's book series and setting it with studio-based Shawn Levy at his 21 Laps banner.

Fancy Nancy, a young girl who loves dressing up extravagantly in feather boas, ruby slippers and tutus, debuted in 2005. "The Fancy Nancy" series -- written by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser -- has resulted in 50 titles published by HarperCollins with over 17 million books sold.

The "Nancy" series should be familiar to Levy, who has four daughters. He produced and directed DreamWorks' "Real Steel" and is producing Fox's comedy "Neighborhood Watch," starring Ben Stiller and opening July 27. He's also been attached to produce "The Fight Before Christmas" for Fox.

Hotchkiss and Associates represented HarperCollins in the deal.

Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman

Film rights to Christopher Buehlman's THOSE ACROSS THE RIVER, about a small town during the depression, to Mike Medavoy (SHUTTER ISLAND, BLACK SWAN) with Weed Road (I AM LEGEND) producing and Kip Williams (THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2) writing and directing, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Stephanie Lehmann at Elaine Koster Agency and Michelle Brower at Folio Literary Management.

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY: 'Paranormal Activity 2′ Helmer Kip Williams Aligns With 'Those Across The River'

By MIKE FLEMING

EXCLUSIVE: Mike Medavoy, Douglas McKay and Ali Toukan have optioned the Christopher Buehlman literary horror novelThose Across The River. The trio is producing with Akiva Goldsman's Weed Road, and Tod "Kip" Williams is attached to write the script and direct the film. The book takes place in a small Southern town in Georgia in 1935. A WWI veteran moves there with his new wife after they inherit a home passed down through his family. He intends to write a book about his grandfather, an evil plantation owner, but soon realizes that there are some crazy things going on, including residents that are being killed and eaten. It's the Depression, and the horror begins after the town abandons a practice of sending two pigs each month across the river, though they've never figured exactly what happened to those animals. Williams most recently directed Paranormal Activity 2. The deal was made by Hotchkiss and Associates' Sean Daily for Folio Literary Management and Elaine Koster Agency. Williams is repped by UTA and 3 Arts.

The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez and Jenna Glatzer

TV rights to Gaby Rodriguez's PREGNANT LIKE ME, based on the WA state high school honor student who conducted a social experiment about teen pregnancy and stereotypes, optioned to Lifetime for a television movie, by Jody Hotchkiss and Associates on behalf of Martin Literary Management.