The Black Phone by Joe Hill

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Universal Sets Winter 2022 Release For Blumhouse Scott Derrickson Horror Movie ‘The Black Phone’

Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions have selected Jan. 28, 2022 for the release of Scott Derrickson’s next movie The Black Phone. Uni already had the date on hold for a Blumhouse title, and this is the one.

The Black Phone is currently the only wide release on that date, coming in the wake of Sony/Marvel’s Morbius on Jan. 21. There currently aren’t any wide releases scheduled for the weekend after, Feb. 5-7.

The Black Phone reps Derrickson’s return to horror. Before Marvel’s Doctor Strange, the filmmaker directed such genre titles as Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Deliver Us From Evil.

In The Black Phone, Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.

 4x Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke stars with newcomer Mason Thames. The Black Phone is produced, directed, and co-written by Derrickson. He co-wrote with C. Robert Cargill (Doctor Strange, Sinister franchise), based on the award-winning short story by Joe Hill from his New York Times bestseller 20th Century Ghosts. Pic is produced by Derrickson & Cargill’s Crooked Highway. Jason Blum also produces with the duo, with EPs being Hill, Christopher H. Warner and Ryan Turek.

The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

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N.K. Jemisin’s ‘The Inheritance Trilogy’ To Be Developed As TV Series By Searchlight TV & Westbrook Studios

EXCLUSIVE: Searchlight Television has optioned N.K. Jemisin’s seminal fantasy book series The Inheritance Trilogy for series development. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Studios has come on board to produce the project, envisioned as an epic, live-action ongoing fantasy series. A search is underway for a writer, director and talent to board the adaptation.

The Inheritance Trilogy, published by Orbit Books, is comprised of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the first book in the series, followed by The Broken Kingdoms and The Kingdom of Gods.

In the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, recently named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, gods dwell among mortals and one powerful, corrupt family rules the earth. Three extraordinary people may be the key to humanity’s salvation. The book also won the Locus Award.

David Boorstein, SVP, Head of Scripted TV at Westbrook Studios will executive produce with Westbrook’s Co-President, Head of Television, Terence Carter. Searchlight’s VP of TV Development Danny Samit and Gina Kwon, Head of Development and Production will oversee the project for Searchlight TV.

“N. K. Jemisin is one of the most creative and prolific fantasy novelists of our time. Her epic storytelling and fierce, powerful character work render complex, multicultural worlds that truly stand out in a genre too often painted with a monochromatic brush,” Carter said. “We’re excited to partner with the team at Searchlight to bring her incredible, award-winning trilogy to life on screen.” 

Jemisin is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and the first author in the genre’s history to win three consecutive Best Novel Hugos, for her Broken Earth trilogy. Her most recent novel is the NYT-bestselling The City We Became.

Westbrook Studios, which is behind the Emmy-nominated Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk, recently launched six-part docuseries Amend: The Fight for America on Netflix. The studio also recently received a two-season order from Peacock for Bel-Air, the dramatic reboot of Will Smith’s iconic The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air based on Morgan Cooper’s 2019 viral short film.

I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan

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‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’: Madison Iseman Among Nine Cast In Amazon’s YA Horror Series

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television have cast the new group of teenagers (and a couple of adults) at the center of the I Know What You Did Last Summer series reboot.

Madison Iseman (Jumanji: The Next Level), Brianne Tju (Light as a Feather), Ezekiel Goodman, Ashley Moore (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping), Sebastian Amoruso (Solve), Fiona Rene (Stumptown), Cassie Beck (Connecting), Brooke Bloom (Homecoming) and Bill Heck (I’m Your Woman) are set to star in the YA horror series, a modern take on the hit 1997 slasher film. Production will begin this month in Hawaii.

Written by Sara Goodman (Preacher) based on the 1973 novel by Lois Duncan, the I Know What You Did Last Summer series has the same premise as the movie adaptation: In a town full of secrets, a group of teenagers are stalked by a mysterious killer a year after a fatal accident on their graduation night.

Character descriptions are not being released, though Iseman is believed to be the lead, similar to Jennifer Love Hewitt in the movie franchise.

Goodman will write and executive produce along with executive producers Shay Hatten, Original Film’s Neal Moritz and Pavun Shetty, Erik Feig and Atomic Monster’s James Wan, Rob Hackett and Michael Clear. Craig Macneill will serve as director and executive producer for the first episode.

Iseman is best known for her role in Sony’s Jumanji franchise opposite Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillian, Kevin Hart and Jack Black. She originally appeared in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as one of the four teenagers who discover an old video game console and literally are drawn into the game’s jungle setting, and also returned in Jumanji: The Next Level. Iseman will next be seen as the lead in the Lionsgate thriller Fear of Rain. Iseman is repped by Paradigm, Ryan Daly of Zero Gravity Management, Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner & Gellman.

Tju is a two-time Emmy-nominated actress for her role as Alex Portnoy on the hit Hulu series Light as a Feather. Most recently she can be seen in the film 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, alongside John Corbett and Nia Long. She has guest-starred in series including The CW’s iZombie, NBC’s A.P. Bio, Save Me and Chicago P.D. among others. She is represented by Curtis Talent Management and Innovative Artists.

Goodman was most recently studying in the MFA Acting Program at the University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts. In addition to other acting work, he was a member of iO Theater and The Annoyance Theater in Chicago, and appears in the forthcoming feature by filmmaker Meredith Johnston. He is repped by Lighthouse Management and Media, and Eric Brooks at Goodman Genow.

Moore’s first acting job was a featured role in Judd Apatow’s Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, and she has also appeared as a guest star on Freeform’s Alone Together. She is repped by Luber Roklin Entertainment, Gersh and Skylaw.

Amoruso most recently completed shooting a recurring role in Snapchat’s original series Solve. While attending the famed Stagedoor Manor, Amoruso starred in a number of musicals including Heathers the Musical and the US Premiere of Prom Queen. He is repped by Brookside Artist Management and CESD talent agency.

Chinese-American actress Rene is best known for her role of Kara Lee on ABC’s Stumptown. Other credits include Grey’s Anatomy, Jane the Virgin, among others. She is repped by LG Management and Encompass Talent.

Beck recurs on NBC’s pandemic-life comedy Connecting and has an upcoming role opposite Mark Wahlberg and Connie Britton in the buzzy feature from TIFF, Good Joe Bell. She originated the role of Aimee in the Tony Award-winning play The Humans on Broadway, in London and Los Angeles, and most recently appeared opposite Marisa Tomei in the Broadway revival of The Rose Tattoo. Beck is repped by Matthew Lesher at Insight Entertainment and Artists & Representatives.

Bloom returns to Amazon where she appeared in Sam Esmail’s Homecoming and the political satire Alpha House. Most recently, Bloom recurred on Season 3 of USA’s The Sinner opposite Matt Bomer and Bill Pullman. On the film side, Bloom had supporting turns in Jeremy Hersh indie The Surrogate and Eric Steel’s Minyan. Bloom is repped by Talentworks and One Entertainment.

Heck plays the young version of Jeff Bridges’ Dan Chase in FX’s upcoming The Old Man. He can also be seen starring in the Netflix series Locke & Key and Apple TV+ anthology series Little America. He is repped by Gersh, manager Perry Zimel and attorney Diane Golden.

August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones

DEADLINE

Keegan-Michael Key Headlines ‘August Snow’ PI Drama In Works At ABC From Paul Eckstein & Imagine TV Studios

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, ABC has landed August Snow, a drama starring and executive produced by Keegan-Michael Key. It hails from Godfather of Harlem co-creator/executive producer Paul Eckstein, Imagine Television Studios and CBS Studios where Imagine has a deal. Written by Eckstein based on Stephen Mack Jones’ “August Snow” novels, the drama has received a script commitment plus penalty.

August Snow (Key) is a biracial former detective who grew up in Detroit’s Mexicantown. After a distinguished military career, he joined the force like his father, only to be drummed out by a conspiracy led by corrupt cops and politicians. August hit back, winning an $18 million wrongful dismissal lawsuit, then packed his bags to travel the world. The series will open with August returning home to the city he has deep affection for in search of himself and reconnecting with his roots while also facing enemies on both sides of the law. August becomes a private investigator, a Robin Hood from the hood, gathering a group of unexpectedly talented misfits to help him solve cases, invests his money to help reinvigorate his city in despair, and save himself along the way.

Michigan native Key, who is biracial, and Eckstein executive produce with Brian Grazer and Samie Kim Falvey for Imagine TV Studios, Gaspin Media’s Jeff Gaspin and Tony Sabistina as well as Key’s producing partner Elle Key. Jones serves as a consulting producer. James Seidman and Nicole Scott will oversee the project for Imagine.

Published in 2017, “August Snow” is Jones’ first novel and the first book in a trilogy for which he won the Nero Award for excellence in mystery writing, as well as the Hammett Prize awarded by the International Association of Crime Writers for excellence in crime writing.

Gaspin Media acquired the book, partnered with Keegan-Michael and Elle Key, and brought the project to Imagine.

Keegan-Michael Key is coming off starring roles in two major holiday movie musical releases, Netflix’s The Prom and Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. He also co-starred in streamer’s Dolemite is My Name. His last live-action series regular role was in the Netflix comedy Friends From College.

Key co-created and headline, alongside Jordan Peele, Comedy Central’s influential sketch series, Key & Peele, which won an Outstanding Variety Sketch Series Emmy Award as well as a Peabody Award. He also hosted Game On! on CBS and Nat Geo’s Brain Games and voiced Disney’s animated hits Toy Story 4 and The Lion King. Key is represented by UTA and attorney Dave Feldman.

Eckstein is the co-creator/executive producer of Epix’s breakout drama series Godfather of Harlem. Prior to that, he was a writer-producer on Of Kings & Prophets for ABC and Narcos for Netflix. He is repped by Rain Management Group and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

This broadcast development season, Imagine TV Studios also has drama Family History in the works at NBC. The company’s current series slate includes Joe Exotic, starring Nicolas Cage, which is in development at Amazon Studios, as well as Wu-Tang: An American Saga for Hulu, Why Women Kill for CBS All Access, Swagger for Apple and Outliers for HBO Max.

Gaspin Media is behind First Ladies, starring Viola Davis, at Showtime, Rhythm + Flow at Netflix, and a documentary feature for Netflix. Additionally, Gaspin Is executive producer on ABC’s To Tell the Truth and Spectrum/Fox’s LA’s Finest. Gaspin Media, whose scripted television division is headed by Sabistina, is currently in an overall deal with AGC Television.

Stephen Mack Jones was represented on behalf of Stephany Evans at Ayesha Pande Literary by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates.

Locke and Key renewed for Season 3

DEADLINE

‘Locke & Key’ Renewed For Season 3 At Netflix As Co-Showrunner Meredith Averill Signs Overall Deal With Streamer

The Keepers of the Keys will continue as Netflix has handed supernatural thriller Locke & Key a third season.

Co-showrunner Meredith Averill has also signed an overall deal with the streamer for TV series and other projects.

It comes as production on season two is set to wrap in Toronto this week and filming for season three will pick up immediately in the new year. Season two will air in 2021.

The show, which comes from Averill and co-showrunner and exec producer Carlton Cuse, was renewed for a second season in March, a month after the first season launched. The first season of Locke and Key starred Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, Jackson Robert Scott, Laysla De Oliveira, Aaron Ashmore, Petrice Jones, and Griffin Gluck.

Based on the comic books by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez, the coming-of-age supernatural drama follows the Locke siblings after their father is murdered under mysterious circumstances. The three siblings and their mother move into their ancestral home, Keyhouse, which they discover is full of magical keys that may be connected to their father’s death. As the Locke children explore the different keys and their unique powers, a mysterious demon awakens — and will stop at nothing to steal them.

Cuse and Averill will continue as co-showrunners on the show, which comes from IDW Entertainment. For season three, they exec produce alongside John Weber and Frank Siracusa for Take 5, Kevin Lafferty, Joe Hill, Ted Adams, Chris Ryall and Lydia Antonini for IDW, and Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, David Alpert and Rick Jacobs for Circle of Confusion.

“Carlton and Meredith have built an incredible world in Locke and Key and we’re excited to have the Lockes return for more in the third season,” said Brian Wright VP of Overall Deals for Netflix.  “I’m delighted to expand our creative partnership with Meredith Averill, a talented creator with a keen eye for best-in-class horror and supernatural storytelling.”

“I’m incredibly grateful to have found a home at Netflix where I feel constantly supported, challenged and inspired. I look forward to continuing and expanding our relationship,” said Meredith Averill.

“We have some incredible adventures in store for the Locke family in season three, and could not be more excited to continue telling our story with our great partners at Netflix,” added Carlton Cuse.

Blood In The Water by Silver Donald Cameron

 DEADLINE

‘Trailer Park Boys’ Co-Creator Barrie Dunn Options True-Crime Story ‘Blood In The Water’ Via Pictou Twist Pics

EXCLUSIVE: Blood in the Water, the true story of the murder at sea of Philip Boudreau, is set to be adapted for screen after Pictou Twist Pictures, the company founded by Trailer Park Boys co-creator Barrie Dunn optioned the rights.

Pictou Twist Pictures and Ion Inc. acquired the film and television rights to the book, which was written by late Canadian author Silver Donald Cameron.

Blood in the Water tells the story of the 2013 murder of Philip Boudreau, a notorious outlaw – equally loved and hated – who was killed while vandalizing the lobster traps of three Cape Breton fishermen.

The book was billed as a “must-read” by Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Dunn is the co-creator, writer and producer of Canadian mockumentary series The Trailer Park Boys, which ran for over 100 episodes and spawned a number of feature films. He founded Pictou Twist Pictures with Patrick Graham to focus on political dramas and thrillers, stories of individual and collective struggle, and irreverent comedies. The pair had previously worked together on feature film Afghan Luke starring Nick Stahl.

The acquisition deal for Blood in the Water was brokered by Hotchkiss Daily and Associates on behalf of the Bukowski Agency and by Sean Barclay of the Gersh Agency on behalf of Pictou Twist Pictures.

“We are delighted to have negotiated a deal with Barrie Dunn and Patrick Graham for the film and TV rights to Blood In The Water,” said Denise Bukowski, Silver Donald’s literary agent. “It is not merely a story of murder for lobster as was portrayed in the media. It’s much more complex than that. Philip Boudreau’s murder was gut-wrenching and you feel incredible sympathy for him. Yet it’s also hard not to empathize with the lobster fishers who killed him.”

“It is a dark, compelling story, but not without its humour,” added Dunn. “Philip Boudreau was a rogue and a rascal, a character not unlike the type we often met and saw portrayed sympathetically in Trailer Park Boys”.

“The story is timeless, almost mythical,” said Graham. “Like Benjamin Britten’s opera Peter Grimes, Blood In The Water is really about how a tight knit community deals with an outlaw when the authorities are unwilling or unable to do so.”

Locke and Key and Sweet Magnolias among the 10 Most-Watched Netflix Original And Limited Series Of 2020

FORBES

Here Are The 10 Most-Watched Netflix Original And Limited Series Of 2020

The saving grace for many during the pandemic-fueled year we have just endured has been the escapism of streaming television series, movies and documentaries. In 2020, lingo such as social distancing, lockdowns and quarantine became daily topics of conversation and our new normal. This was good business for streaming sites like Netflix NFLX +1.2% and Hulu as subscribers just couldn’t get enough.

In fact, our schedules were so out of whack that in May it was reported that Monday was the new weekend as quarantined households binged more and more content. Per Comcast CMCSA -1.6% at the time, this was causing noticeable shifts and new behaviors in television viewing patterns with millions of Americans watching more than an extra workday’s worth of content per week (eight additional hours of content per week than in early March) with streaming/web video up 35%. For the average household, this equated to 66 hours of binge-watching per week and this was without live sports. The consumption of news programming also increased by 64%.

As we near the finish line of this incredibly challenging year, we’re facing even more stringent lockdown measures, leading consumers to continue streaming content. TV Time, which has 15 million registered app users worldwide, surveyed those based in the U.S. to see which new Netflix original series and limited series were binge-watched the most.

Of course, returning hits such as The Crown and Dead to Me were watched en masse by ardent fans but for the sake of this list, viewers were specifically asked about series that were new to the streamer in 2020 and this included first seasons, as well as series meant to be limited. And recently premiered series like Selena, for example, are being binged in high numbers but are too new to make this year’s list.

Here are the 10 most-watched new Netflix originals and each show’s specific genre:

1. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (Reality)

2. Locke & Key (Drama)

3. Space Force (Comedy)

4. Outer Banks (Drama)

5. Love Is Blind (Reality)

6. The Queen's Gambit (Drama)

7. Never Have I Ever (Dramedy)

8. Ratched (Drama)

9. The Circle (Reality)

10. Sweet Magnolias (Romance)

According to the team at TV Time, the five top genres can be broken down as follows: Reality (32%), Documentary (29%), Comedy (18%), Drama (13%) and Crime (12%). Of note, since many shows can easily fit into more than one genre, the percentages exceed 100%.

Per Senior Media Analyst at Comscore SCOR +3.5%, Paul Dergarabedian, the increase in digital consumption during this time should come as no surprise and though physically isolated, people yearn to be a part of what everyone is talking about online. “Great content drives the social conversation and as the binge-watching of great shows is a natural byproduct of the pandemic-challenged marketplace, so too is the desire to become part of the virtual conversation surrounding a show like The Queen's Gambit, and this has helped to form a sense of community built around a common interest even as most humans are isolated and sequestered at home.”

Though stream times for original programs were up, the industry still faced its share of challenges, which continued into the third quarter of this year with a decline in household viewership. “There was a limit to original content during the pandemic because of production being impacted by Covid-19,” says Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of TV data and measurement company Alphonso, Raghu Kodige. He’s speaking specifically of trends for OTT originals. “In October we saw an uptick in viewership and viewers after a long time due to the return of original programming. This indicates a brighter time for new originals on streaming platforms.”

It will be fascinating to see how the pandemic impacts the production of new content, as well as viewing patterns for consumers as we enter the new year. In trying times people long for the escape of great entertainment and the connection of sharing the shows and movies they’re watching with like-minded fans.

Cyberstorm by Matthew Mather

 DEADLINE

Netflix Lands Spec ‘Wraith’ With Sebastian Hofmann Directing And Matt Lopez Writing

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has acquired the rights to the Matt Lopez spec script Wraith with Sebastian Hofmann attached to direct and Lopez on board to write. The spec is based on the bestselling novel Cyberstorm with Emile Gladstone on board to produce.

Based on the self-published novel by Matthew Mather, the novel follows resident of New York City, who is trying to keep his family together when he is thrust into new problems of staying alive. Unknown how similar in story Lopez’s spec will be.

The book sold over one million copies and spent more than 2 years in the top 100 ebooks on Amazon. It has been translated into over twenty-four foreign language.

Hofmann a Mexican filmmaker whose second film, Time Share, premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival where it won Best Screenplay in the World Dramatic Competition. Netflix would acquire the film soon after its premiere and it went on to be nominated for six Ariel Awards (Mexico’s Academy Awards). Hoffman currently has a first look deal for Spanish language TV with Exile/Endeavor Content and is also the co-founder of a production company called PIANO which will release Annette starring Adam Driver, Memoria starring Tilda Swinton and Abel Ferrara’s Siberia Willem Dafoe.

Lopez was recently tapped to pen a new retelling of the Father of The Bride series from the perspective of a Latinx family. His other credits include writing on such features as Bedtime Stories, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Race to Witch Mountain.

Mather’s books have sold millions of copies, been translated and published in over twenty countries across the globe, and optioned for multiple movie and television contracts. He began his career as a researcher at the McGill Center for Intelligent Machines before starting and working in high-tech ventures ranging from video games to nanotechnology and cyber security. He now works as a full-time author of speculative and science fiction thrillers.

Gladstone most recently produced The Conjuring spin-off The Curse of La LLorona.

Lopez is repped by Lit Entertainment Group and attorney Melissa Rogal. Hofmann is repped by WME, Jeremy Platt at Grandview and Marios Rush is his attorney. Mather is repped by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss Daily & Associates.

The Sting by Flinder Boyd

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Skydance, Berlanti Prods Win Movie Rights To The Sting, ’80s Teen Texas Women’s Team That Went To China To Slay Giants In First World Championship Tourney

EXCLUSIVE: Skydance and Berlanti Productions won a movie auction and acquired an unpublished article by Flinder Boyd about The Sting. It has all the makings of a Rocky-esque story set in the world of women’s soccer, long before the U.S. team came to Olympic and World Cup dominance.

Never heard of them? They have been largely forgotten. In 1984 President Reagan made a concerted effort to open relations with China.  China in turn invited America to send its U.S. Women’s Soccer Team to the first world championship they were holding for women’s soccer. There was only one problem – there was no U.S. Women’s Soccer Team. A nation-wide search led officials to a 19-and-under league of Dallas high school girls who called themselves The Sting, after the recent Robert Redford-Paul Newman hit movie. Led by coach Bill Kinder — who had no prior experience coaching soccer before he formed the team — the story of how this passionate group of young women got to China was miraculous. And what they did against the world’s top women’s teams from China, Australia and Italy — comprised of grown women who played together for years — was nothing short of a miracle.

Boyd, a former basketball player turned sports writer, had his reps at Hotchkiss Daily & Associates circulate the 17-page article before he placed it with one of the many magazines he writes for. They will now find an outlet to publish the story and filmmakers are already being courted to tell an exceptional female sport empowerment tale.

Skydance’s Don Granger and Dana Goldberg, and Berlanti Productions’ Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Robbie Rogers, ran the ball on this one and acquired the material in a package that includes life rights to Sting coach Bill Kinder. In order to form the team nearly 40 years ago, Kinder had to get a note from a gynecologist asserting that playing soccer would not harm a woman’s reproductive organs. Texas parents who envisioned their daughters waving pom poms at halftime soon became the cheerleaders for this eclectic mix of girls who were drilled to precision by a Lombardi-like coach, and became a local powerhouse. They then overcame bureaucracy to be chosen to make the trip, and rose to the occasion despite being underdogs against dominant international teams in China. All this led by a coach who so believed in The Sting that he charged $85,000 on his credit cards for non-refundable tickets to ensure the team got to China where many expected they would lose badly. Cue the Rocky theme music.

“The story shows how women have been and still are treated poorly around the world in sports compared to their male counterparts,” Schechter said. “To see what The Sting did with little support and no money, intertwined with how these very different young girls meshed for the love of the sport and country, is something beautiful that deserves not to be lost to history,” Schechter said. “We flipped for it.”

Rogers, who is Berlanti’s husband, played wing and left back both for the US Men’s Team national team and was a solid player in the pro circuit in Europe. While the disparity between funding for the less successful men’s teams in America versus the dominant women’s teams has long been a point of contention, Rogers knows much about the alienation faced by The Sting players when many in Texas objected to girls even playing soccer. When he retired from European soccer, Rogers became the second pro soccer player to come out as gay, long after Justin Fashanu had become the first, at a time Rogers hid his sexuality for fear it would ruin his career.

“I was playing in England and there was this BBC article about Justin Fashanu,” Rogers recalled. “I was closeted and listened as my teammates talked about how disgusting it was, how gay players should take showers with women. It was a time when you heard a lot of racist, sexist and homophobic things. When I made the decision to free myself, most of those same people I’d heard homophobic things from were so supportive. They called and apologized if they’d offended me, said that it wasn’t what was really in their hearts. I grew up in that environment, and there is a long history of telling our daughters, and women, here is how you have to behave, and that you have to be softer. Perpetuating these stereotypes is ridiculous, as is this pressure we place on women and men instead of allowing them to be just who they are. That’s why I responded so strongly to The Sting.”

Hotchkiss, Daily & Associates made the deal without a co-agent.

I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan

DEADLINE

‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’: Amazon Orders YA Horror Series Based On Movie

Amazon Studios has given a series greenlight to YA horror series I Know What You Did Last Summer, a modern take on the hit 1997 slasher film. The project hails from Sony Pictures Television and studio-based Original Film.

Written by Sara Goodman (Preacher) based on the 1973 novel by Lois Duncan, the I Know What You Did Last Summer series has the same premise as the movie adaptation – in a town full of secrets, a group of teenagers are stalked by a mysterious killer a year after a fatal accident on their graduation night.

“The best horror franchises always have another scare coming, and this I Know What You Did Last Summer series from Sara Goodman is a perfectly twisted update to the iconic slasher movie,” said Albert Cheng, COO and CO-Head of Television, Amazon Studios. “Any way you slice it, our global Prime Video customers will love this modern take on the fan favorite film.”

I Know What You Did Last Summer, produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures TV, had been in development for a couple of years. Original Film’s Neal H. Moritz, who produced the 1997 movie for Columbia Pictures, has been the main driver behind the project, which went through multiple incarnations. Last year, James Wan and his Atomic Monster boarded the series.

Goodman executive produces alongside Shay Hatten, who was previously attached as a writer, Original Film’s Moritz and Pavun Shetty and Atomic Monster’s Wan, Rob Hackett and Michael Clear. Erik Feig, who produced the 1997 feature with Moritz, also is an executive producer.

“We are thrilled to have I Know What You Did Last Summer with our incredible partners at Amazon Studios,” said Jason Clodfelter, Co-President, Sony Pictures TV Studios. “Neal Moritz and Original Film’s development consistently fires on all cylinders and that is proven once again with Sara Goodman’s contemporary and pulsating character weaving suspense thriller.

At Amazon, Original Film and Sony Pictures TV, where the company is under an overall deal, also have the hugely popular series The Boys. Additionally, Original Film is behind the Sony TV drama series for CBS S.W.A.T.

I Know What You Did Last Summer extends Goodman’s relationship with Original Film and Sony TV after most recently serving as executive producer on their AMC series Preacher.

The 1997 movie was written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Jim Gillespie. It starred Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr.

False Assurances by Christopher Rosow

Hollywood Reporter

Spyglass Picks Up Thriller Novel 'False Assurances' From First-Time Author (Exclusive)

Christopher Rosow's book was published in May and became a No. 1 Amazon Kindle bestseller.

Spyglass Media has optioned the rights to False Assurances, the debut novel by Christopher Rosow.

The novel is actually part of a two-book debut from Rosow and the book has taken off from the get-go. Since publication in May, False Assurances has become a No. 1 Amazon Kindle best seller; a No. 1 Apple books best seller and a No. 1 Wall Street Journal fiction e-book. A third book is in the works.

The first book has political hook, with a plot involving the President and terrorists. The story is set in motion when the FBI Boston field office gets a hoax call, with man claiming his sailboat was hijacked and used to smuggle weapons and terrorists into the United States. Despite the far-fetched nature of the claims, a presidential visit to Boston that night requites an investigation, and the FBI dispatches admin staffer Ben Porter, a laid-back millennial and the opposite of Jack Ryan in almost every way, to the scene. Rosow is an avid and competitive sailor and was inspired to write the story while on a race in the Atlantic.

“Christopher has written a gripping suspense thriller with fast-paced storytelling and dynamic characters,” said Spyglaas’ president of production, Peter Oillataguerre. “Ben Porter is a whole new brand of ‘hero’ that will take audiences on a captivating ride.”

Oillataguerre and Chris Stone, vp of production and development, will oversee the project on behalf of Spyglass.

The pickup shows that Spyglass has more on its mind than just mining its library, which, as a partnership between Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment, includes many titles that were made by Miramax. So far, it is those titles that have grabbed the most limelight as the company develops its slate, which includes the reboots of horror franchises Scream and Hellraiser.

Rosow was repped in the deal by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates.

Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson

Quill and Quire

Film adaptations of Indigenous bestsellers The Inconvenient Indian, the Trickster series to premiere at TIFF

Film adaptations of two Canadian Indigenous bestsellers will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Michelle Latimer directs Inconvenient Indian, a documentary based on Thomas King’s 2012 work about the colonization of Indigenous people in Canada.

Latimer also directed Trickster, a CBC series based on Eden Robinson’s Trickster trilogy. Ninety minutes of the series will premiere at TIFF before it begins airing on CBC later this fall. Season two of the series is already in production.

The Forbidden Game by LJ Smith

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Greg Berlanti Productions To Adapt ‘The Forbidden Game’ Novels By ‘TVD’ Author LJ Smith As TV Series

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Television has acquired the rights to The Forbidden Game trilogy of horror YA novels by LJ Smith for Greg Berlanti’s studio-based Berlanti Productions to adapt as TV series. Smith is the author of The Vampire Diaries novels, which were turned by WBTV into a hit TV series that aired for eight seasons on the CW.

WBTV/Berlanti Productions landed the rights to The Forbidden Game in a competitive situation. The series adaptation will be executive produced by Berlanti Productions’ Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and David Madden. Search is underway for a writer.

The Forbidden Game is a teen horror trilogy of novels in which a girl named Jenny and six friends enter a Jumanji-like game that drops them into different shadow worlds to fight off their worst nightmares, or die and have their souls forever imprisoned. The stakes are set by Julian, an enigmatic blue-eyed boy who moves freely between worlds. Jenny is determined to save herself and her friends, but when she starts to fall in love with Julian her loyalties are tested beyond anything she has ever experienced.

The Forbidden Game trilogy, published in 1994, consists of the books The Hunter, The Chase and The Kill.

WBTV adaptations of two other book series by Smith have gone on the air, The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle, which aired on the CW for one season.

The deal for the author was made on behalf of The Bent Agency by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates.

Throttle by Joe Hill and Stephen King

HBO Max, ‘Antlers’ Producer Developing Feature Based On Stephen King and Joe Hill’s ‘Throttle’ Novella

EXCLUSIVE: HBO Max is in the early development stage of a feature adaptation for the Throttle novella, which was co-written by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill, who is the NYT bestselling author of The Fireman and Strange Weather. Leigh Dana Jackson, a co-executive producer on the Netflix series Raising Dion, will write the screenplay, which will be produced by David S. Goyer and Keith Levine through their Phantom Four label.

Throttle follows a father and son led biker gang who get terrorized by a big rig truck on an isolated stretch of the American desert. The short story was first published in 2009 in an anthology titled He Is Legend and was followed by a 2012 comic book adaptation from IDW Publishing.

Hill’s second novel, Horns, was made into a feature film starring Daniel Radcliffe, and his third one, NOS4A2, was adapted into a TV series on AMC with the 2nd season coming in June. In addition, a TV version of his bestselling comic series Locke & Key, is currently on Netflix and was renewed for season 2. Hill is repped by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates.

Phantom Four is the production company behind the upcoming Keri Russell horror pic, Antlers (along with Guillermo Del Toro) as well as Sundance film The Night House. Both films will be released by Searchlight Pictures. They also have in their canon The Tomorrow War starring Chris Pratt at Paramount and Skydance, a Hellraiser reboot set at Spyglass, the action/thriller Rogue at STX, an Omen prequel at 20th Century Studios. Goyer, who serves as the showrunner the Apple/Skydance series, Foundation for Apple/Skydance, is repped by John LaViolette.

Jackson is currently adapting and executive producing The Spook Who Sat By The Door series for FX/Fox 21, with Lee Daniels and Marc Velez producing and Gerard McMurray attached to direct. He is repped by The Gotham Group and Michael Schenkman.

King has published over 50 books, many of which have been adapted for the screen, and is revered as one of the world’s most successful writers. He is repped by Paradigm.

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

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Warner Bros, Plan B Acquire Upcoming Edward Ashton Sci-Fi Novel ‘Mickey7’

EXCLUSIVE: In an early buy for recently arrived producer Plan B Entertainment, Warner Bros has acquired Mickey7, a science fiction novel by Edward Ashton that will be published in 2021. Run by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Plan B will produce.

UK rights to the book have been acquired by Solaris, and the U.S. rights are in play right now. Novel was pitched around Hollywood as The Martian meets Children of Time. The title character is an “expendable,” a person on missions who is sent on the most dangerous, even suicidal jobs. When an expendable dies, a new body is regenerated with most of the memories intact. Essentially, Mickey7 is the seventh iteration of an expendable who is undergoing an existential identity crisis while trying to keep his successor’s regeneration a secret and negotiating with the planet’s native species on a dangerous trip to colonize a new ice world.

On the publishing side, Michael Rowley at Solaris acquired the book at auction. The movie deal was brokered by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates on behalf of Paul Lucas at Janklow & Nesbit.

Plan B, the tastemaker producer behind Oscar winners Moonlight, 12 Years a Slave and The Big Short, and blockbusters like World War Z, recently moved to Warner Bros after a first-look film deal with Annapurna went by the wayside.

The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse

Deadline

‘The Madonnas Of Echo Park’ Drama From Julia Cho, Kelly Marcel & Aaron Kaplan Set At Starz With Penalty

EXCLUSIVE: Starz has put in development a drama series based on the 2011 novel The Madonnas Of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse, from award-winning playwright Julia Cho, feature writer Kelly Marcel (Venom), producer Aaron Kaplan (The Chi, The Neighborhood, A Million Little Things) and his Kapital Entertainment.

The project was bought by the Lionsgate-owned premium network with a significant penalty, part of its focus on content for diverse female audiences. It will be produced by Kapital and Lionsgate Television.

Written by Cho, The Madonnas Of Echo Park is a multigenerational drama set in Los Angeles that takes us across borders and into decades past as it follows one young woman’s search for her undocumented father.

“I wrote Madonnas of Echo Park to try and make visible the hopes and ambitions of those who often aren’t seen or heard, the ‘invisible hands; whose labor make the dream of Los Angeles possible,” Skyhorse said. “I’m humbled that two extraordinary artists, Kelly Marcel and Julia Cho, saw something special in the book. I’m grateful to Starz for giving Madonnas a home.”

Cho, Marcel, Skyhorse and Kapital’s Kaplan and Dana Honor executive produce. The project, with the same creative team, was originally set up at HBO in 2012. It reunites Kaplan and Marcel whose first collaboration, Fox drama series Terra Nova, marked Marcel’s first produced script and Kaplan’s first series as a producer.

Marcel went on to a feature career with Saving Mr. Banks, Fifty Shades of Grey, the Venom franchise, Cruiella and Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming Elvis Presley movie.

At Starz, Kapital has a pilot order for Shining Vale, a horror comedy from Sharon Horgan and Jeff Astrof, which stars Courteney Cox. Like many other pilots, its production has been suspended due to the coronavirus crisis, and the project is writing a second script during the shutdown.

Earlier this week, Kapital’s Women of the Movement (working title) opened a virtual writers room. The ABC anthology series chronicles the civil rights movement as told by the women behind it.

Cho was recently awarded the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize. Her TV series credits include Big Love, Fringe and Halt and Catch Fire. She is repped by attorney Tara Kole. The TV rights deal for the book was made on behalf of Writers House by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates.

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

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Sony & 21 Laps Win Riley Sager Thriller Novel ‘Home Before Dark’

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures won a competitive auction for Home Before Dark, a thriller novel by bestselling author Riley Sager, with Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps attached to produce. Book will be published June 30 by Dutton.

A woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir and the issue becomes, is it really haunted as her father claimed? Some 25 years earlier, the young woman moved with her parents into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors that described ghostly encounters with spirits that rivaled The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

The woman restores old homes and was too young to remember what her father described in a book that made him rich. She inherits the property and counts herself a skeptic when she returns to renovate the home. She is confronted from many who belong to the home’s past. To the point she begins to think maybe he wasn’t making it up.

Maia Eyre is shepherding for Sony, Emily Morris for 21 Laps. Deal was done by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates on behalf of Michelle Brower at Aevitas Creative Management.

All Things Possible by Kurt Warner with Michael Silver

DEADLINE

Erwin Brothers To Direct Kurt Warner Biopic, ‘Friday Night Lights’ Scribe David Aaron Cohen To Write

Super Bowl MVP and football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner is about to get the biopic treatment. Jon Erwin and Andrew Erwin’s Kingdom Story Company (the forthcoming I Still Believe) closed a deal for American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story, which will chronicle the true story of the football legend, who went from stocking shelves at a supermarket to become a two time NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback.

The Erwin Brothers will direct and write with Friday Night Lights scribe David Aaron Cohen. The brothers will also produce via their Kingdom banner alongside partner Kevin Downes. The film has been fast-tracked for production and will be distributed wide by Lionsgate on December 18. The screenplay will be based upon interviews with Warner as well as Warner’s memoir, All Things Possible: My Story Of Faith, Football and the First Miracle Season. They are currently casting now including for actors who will portray Kurt Warner and Brenda Warner, who are set to co-produce.

This adds to Kingdom Story Company and Lionsgate partnership in providing faith-based, event-level entertainment. American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story marks the third film to be greenlit by Lionsgate in the last 12 months. Kingdom Story Company’s other biopic I Still Believe is set to debut on March 13. The feature follows the life of Christian music star Jeremy Camp.

The deal for the Warner family was made by Priority Sports and Hotchkiss Daily & Associates.

On Her Own Ground by A’Lelia Bundles

DEADLINE

Netflix Sets Premiere Date For ‘Self Made: Inspired By The Life Of Madam C.J. Walker’, Unveils First Look At Octavia Spencer Limited Series

Netflix has unveiled the official title and premiere date for their previously announced C.J. Walker project starring Octavia Spencer. The four-part limited series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker will debut on the streaming platform March 20. Netflix also released the first look at Spencer as the iconic figure in history.

In the series, Oscar-winning actress Spencer stars as Sarah Breedlove, known as Madam C.J. Walker, the black hair care pioneer and mogul who overcame hostile turn-of-the-century America, epic rivalries, tumultuous marriages and family challenges to become America’s first black, female self-made millionaire.

The series is inspired by the book, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles. Walker overcame post-slavery racial and gender biases, personal betrayals, and business rivalries to build a ground-breaking brand that revolutionized black haircare, as she simultaneously fought for social change.

Self Made also stars Blair Underwood as her husband C.J. Walker, Tiffany Haddish as her daughter Lelia, Carmen Ejogo as Walker’s business rival Addie Munroe, Garrett Morris as Walker’s father-in-law, Kevin Carroll as her longtime lawyer Freeman Ransom and Bill Bellamy as Ransom’s cousin Sweetness.

The limited series is produced by SpringHill Entertainment and Wonder Street in association with Warner Bros. Television is helmed by co-showrunners Elle Johnson & Janine Sherman Barrois, along with writer and co-executive producer Nicole Jefferson Asher, directed by Kasi Lemmons and DeMane Davis, and executive produced by Janine Sherman Barrois, Elle Johnson, Maverick Carter, LeBron James, Octavia Spencer, Mark Holder, Christine Holder, Kasi Lemmons, and Jamal Henderson.

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

DEADLINE

By Andreas Wiseman

‘Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark’ Producer 1212 Plans TV Series For NYT YA Bestseller ‘House Of Salt And Sorrows’

EXCLUSIVE: LA-based production outfit 1212 Entertainment (Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark) has acquired screen rights to the New York Times YA bestseller House Of Salt And Sorrows and plans to adapt the novel into a TV series. Joshua Long and Roberto Grande will develop and produce.

The debut novel by Erin A. Craig is a gothic twist on the classic Grimm fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses filled out into a fantastical YA horror and romance. The story follows a royal family of 12 sisters who are transported every night into an enchanted world of the gods filled with lavish costume balls and endless celebrations. When another of their kin dies mysteriously, the remaining sisters must band together and unravel the ancient curse on their family while defying their powerful father and cunning step-mother by continuing to explore the increasingly perilous playground of the gods for answers.

“With all the trappings of ghosts and gods, portals to other worlds, costume balls and budding romance, House Of Salt And Sorrows delivers a constellation of narrative possibilities that we’re excited to bring to life,” Long said.

1212 plans to find a writer then set the series at a network or streamer. The firm is currently adapting Japanese samurai manga Lone Wolf & Cub for Paramount. Long recently wrote and produced the Netflix Original series 1983 with Kennedy/Marshall.

Craig’s deal was done by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates on behalf of Sarah Landis at Sterling Lord Literistic. 1212 Entertainment is represented by Gersh.