Film/TV Rights Watch: Unraveling, Awkward, Cool Sweet Hot Love, Animal Farm & The Bone Season
MTV is getting into the YA novel adaptation game again (uh, MTV if you’re trying to tangle with the CW, you need to get moving—they’re smoking you) with a new series adaptation of Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris. The book follows Janelle Tenner, who, after being hit by a car, is convinced she died and that her sexy and mysterious classmate Ben is responsible for her miraculous resuscitation. As she searches for answers, Janelle discovers that Ben might be linked to an ongoing FBI investigation that has catastrophic consequences.
Kevin Cornish is attached to executive produce the series, and the show will join MTV’s original programming lineup that includes Teen Wolf and Awkward if the script/pilot gets picked up.
The Disney Channel is also looking for a rising star YA novel for its next TV show. Awkward by Marni Bates has been optioned by the network.
Awkward is a romantic teen comedy featuring a girl whose embarrassing moment is captured by her high school classmates and goes viral on YouTube. Suddenly dubbed “America’s Most Awkward Girl”, Mackenzie Wellesley soon finds herself dodging both the paparazzi and the popular girls at school, even as America’s hottest boy rock band, ReadySet, transforms her moment of humiliation into a hit music video! But when Mackenzie’s rise in notoriety only pushes her farther away from the guy she’s falling for, she’ll find out just how steep the price of fame can be.
Warner Bros has scored pre-emptive film rights for Cool, Sweet, Hot, Love by Erin McCahan. The YA novel is about ” a female teenage genius, a lover of linguistics, and the title reflects her desire to see what those words mean to the various groups she comes in contact with, from adults to her peers,” and is set for Dial’s fall 2014 list.
Andy Serkis is taking his experience as second director on The Hobbit into new, exciting movie ventures. He’ll direct and possibly star in Imaginarium’s Animal Farm adaptation. He says that like The Hobbit, the George Orwell adaptation will use 3D and high frame rate filming.
In a statement Serkis said:
“We are delighted to officially announce our involvement in bringing this classic yet controversial fable to life, hopefully allowing it to resonate for our times with a combination of a fresh perspective, real emotional heart, a great deal of humor and satire. By utilizing performance capture, a deeply talented and committed cast of actors will be able to explore and fully inhabit Orwell’s fairy tale world where ‘some animals are more equal than others.’ ”
Serkis is also scheduled to direct the Imaginarium adaptation of Samantha Shannon’s dystopian debut, The Bone Season, out in 2013 from Bloomsbury. He says:
“The dystopian world created by Samantha in The Bone Season series offers a fantastic setting for a truly extraordinary and thrilling narrative. We are honoured that she chose to collaborate with us in the adaptation of her work.”
Twitter
Facebook
Andy Serkis is the man!
So cool! I love Unraveling!!