By Georgie Cutler and Eva Lee
Acquisitions News
Tor signs Olivie Blake’s Alone With You in the Ether
TikTok catapulted the success of Olivie Blake’s self-published novel, The Atlas Six, inspiring a publishing bidding war that Tor ultimately won. The Atlas Six has gone on to being developed by Amazon and Brightstar as a TV series. Tor has extended their collaboration with Blake, as they have just acquired the rights for Alone With You in the Ether in the UK and the Commonwealth. This is another novel that was originally self-published by Blake and has had success on BookTok. Tor UK and US are set to release updated versions later this year. This deal was completed by the Publishing Director of Tor UK, Bella Pagan, who acquired the rights from the Tor division of Macmillan US’s Chris Scheina.
Bloomsbury lands The War Came to Us from Christopher Miller
Journalist and writer Christopher Miller has struck a deal with Bloomsbury Continuum, as they have acquired The War Came to Us: Life and Death in Ukraine. English language rights were secured by Tomasz Hoskins from David Patterson at Stuart Krichevsky Agency. Miller shares his extensive knowledge on Ukraine and Eastern Europe with his appearances on podcasts and television programmes from the BBC to CNN. The book is described as a powerful story of the country’s history, revolution and war. He mentions “drawing intimate portraits of people & events shaping the nation & forging a new Ukrainian identity." (Twitter) Bloomsbury Continuum US and the UK is set to publish the book in June 2023.
From Book To Screen
What to watch?
The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon Prime Video
Following the success of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys series on Netflix, Amazon Prime is set to release an adaptation of her earlier 2009 young adult book. Based on the novel of the same name, The Summer I Turned Pretty follows Isabel, a fifteen-year-old trying to balance family, love and self-growth over the course of a summer spent at a beach house. The series is co-created by Han and Gabrielle Stanton and stars Lola Tung, Jackie Chung, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno. This feel-good summer romance is set to be released as a seven-part series. You can stream The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon Prime from 17 June.
MGM picks up romantic horror Bones and All
Based on the novel of the same name by Camille DeAngelis, the upcoming romantic horror film adaptation is set to be directed by Luca Guadagnino. The American-Italian story is about Maren, a young woman with cannibalistic tendencies living on the edge of society. It is set to star Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell as the leading roles of the film. The film will be released by United Artists Releasing in the US and Vision Distribution in Italy. Filming has wrapped up and the film is expected to be released in the second half of 2022 or early 2023.
In the works
Cast reveal for Red, White and Royal Blue
The protagonists for the adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s bestselling romance novel have been cast. Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine have been cast as Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry respectively. The novel was originally published in 2019 and the film rights were bought by Amazon Studios shortly after its release. The plot follows the relationship between Alex, the first son of the US President, and Henry, a British Prince, as they try to keep their blossoming romance from the global press. Uma Thurman is also set to join the cast as Ellen Claremont, who is Alex’s mother and POTUS. Matthew López has been attached to the project as a writer and director of the film. The adaptation is currently in early production and is set to be released by Amazon Prime.
Sony Pictures acquires One Indian Girl
Sony Pictures International have acquired film rights to novelist Chetan Bhagat’s One Indian Girl, which was released back in 2016. The production for the film is set to be developed this year with no further information on casting or directors so far. It follows the story of Radhika Mehta, an intelligent and successful woman who works at an investment bank but struggles to find love. With the project in the early stages of development, more information is expected to be released in the upcoming months.