More films than ever around the world are based on books. The answer to this trend is always the same: it is much more comfortable for a producer or director to be able to go back to the book whenever it is needed, and the dialogue and synergies between literature and cinema are endless. A film adaptation of a novel is always a “free translation”, a new interpretation of what the writer had created, onewith hundreds of people involved: from the scriptwriter and the director to the actors, the photography and sound teams and the music composer. At Pontas Agency we are constantly in touch with film producers looking for interesting stories to adapt! Here are some novels that, this 2016, have either been optioned or are already in development, in production or in post-production and almost ready to reach audiences worldwide.
The Virgin & The Whale by Carl Nixon is a touching, clever novel about stories, about using them to create your own identity, and about the way they can forge bonds of love. Film rights have been acquired by South Pacific Pictures. The novel is published by Penguin Random House in Australia and New Zealand, and by Weidle Verlag in Germany (with the title Lucky Newman).
American production company Point First has secured a film rights option for on Forrest Gander's debut novel, As a Friend, in which the author explores the nature of attraction, betrayal and loyalty. As a Friend was published by New Directions (English), Sabine Wespieser Éditeur (French), Sexto Piso (Spanish), Altera (Bulgarian) and Lux Books (German).
A House in Amargura, a historical novel by Elisa Vázquez de Gey set during the 19th Century in Cuba, and published by Ediciones B in Spanish, has also been optioned to become a TV mini-series by Ficción Producciones. In the picture below, the author and the producer celebrating the deal!
The film based on The Invisible Guardian, the first installment in the best-selling Baztan Trilogy by Dolores Redondo, has already been shot and is now in post-production. The première is already set for March 3rd 2017. The film has been co-produced by Nostromo, Atresmedia Cine and NadCon Film. Click here to watch the trailer. In the picture below, Dolores Redondo with the poster of the film at the San Sebastián Film Festival 2016.
Milena Busquets’ novel También esto pasará (This Too Shall Pass) will be adapted into a film by The Burman Office. A ‘literary tsunami’ and a best-seller in many of the countries where it has been published (24 already and 10 more on the way), This Too Shall Pass is a fresh, honest, and ruefully funny story about love, sex, marriage, grief, friendship and parenthood. In the first photograph here below, the first on the left is Daniel Burman, producer, director and co-scriptwriter of the film. The shooting is scheduled for September 2017 in Cadaqués and Barcelona.
Eka Kurniawan, the Financial Times Emerging Voices 2016 Fiction Award Winner and South East Asia’s most globally celebrated writer, will also see one of his novels on the big screen. Film rights to adapt his third novel Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas) have been acquired by Jakarta-based company Palari Films.
Brandon Graham’s debut novel Good For Nothing is a witty exploration of the “North American male” and has been optioned by British producer Michael Walker at Hallelujah Productions (who is also currently writing the screenplay adapting “this book which I am passionate about”, in his own words). Published by Skyscraper (UK & Ireland) and Tyrus Books (US & Canada).
Here's many more good films based on great books!