Optional reading
First of all, stop calling them "books." They're "properties." And every property that's any property has been optioned for film, probably long before it reached bookstores. The bestselling The Dirty Girls Social Club came out in May, but Jennifer Lopez has been attached for nearly a year. This summer, in fact, it seems more books are boasting big-screen ambitions, even though times are lean. But then, 2002 proved the unadaptable adaptable--the stubbornly nonlinear The Hours, the slow growth of The Orchid Thief.
Now, properties that some might label "weird," Hollywood is calling "adventurous." And also, "cheap." In the late '90s, magazine articles were going for half a million. Today, the volume of deals may be up, but the money is way down--like, maybe the mid-four figures. For a book. Er, a property. So will the books of summer be the movies of spring? Well . . . "Probably 9 1/2 times out of 10 nothing's going to happen," says Tad Floridis of rightscenter.com.
It just so happens that, of our seven favorite summer properties, four have been optioned for film. Enjoy, and remember: Reading is a movie in your mind.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (Doubleday, June 17). When Christopher Boone, an autistic 15-year-old, is blamed for the murder of his neighbor's poodle, he decides to clear his name and write a book about it--ostensibly this one, Haddon's very funny, very sweet, first novel. Christopher is a brilliant child, but he can't understand or interpret emotion. For instance, when his father shouts, "What the f - - - did I tell you, Christopher?" his son calmly contemplates the difficulties of discerning rhetorical questions. Most of the book spans only a single, short trip to London, but it's an epic story of suspense--Christopher, traveling alone for the first time, could succumb to temptation and shut down ("do groaning," as he calls it) at any moment.
FILM RIGHTS: Heyday Films, Brad Pitt, and Warner Bros. HYPE: Harry Potter scribe Steve Kloves is negotiating to write and direct. CASTING CALL: Newcomer required.
The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst (Little, Brown, out now). The phrase "talking dog" doesn't generally herald a book with a staggering emotional wallop. But this one's already got loads of book club cred, thanks to endorsements from opinion wranglers like Anna Quindlen. Parkhurst's concept was initially tongue in cheek, but what resulted is a study of how unspeakable truths work their way to the surface. After his wife climbs a tree and falls to her death, a linguistics professor decides to teach their dog, Lorelei, to speak. As the only witness to his wife's final hours, he reasons, she can tell him whether the climb was suicide or merely a whim gone wrong. Parkhurst wraps layers of wordplay and mythology around her tale; if you know the origins of Lorelei's name, you're on your way.
FILM RIGHTS: Heyday Films, coproducing with SekretAgent Productions. TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE TIE-IN: A stuffed dog that says, "Don't climb the apple tree!" CASTING CALL: Charismatic, obedient female Rhodesian Ridgeback (a large dog with a bristly ridge of hair down the spine).
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