Fifth Season, 20th Century Studios, Amazon Studios - Book Adaptations.
20th Century Studios is betting high on author Emily Henry. The studio is developing her bestselling novel Beach Read into a feature with Bridgerton actress Phoebe Dynevor set to lead. The rom-comedy follows a romance novelist who suffers from writer’s block while grieving her father’s death. During her Lake Michigan beach house getaway, an unexpected reunion with an old college writing nemesis reignites her spark. Filmmaker Yulin Kuang (wri. People We Meet on Vacation) will be adapting and directing the film.
We believe Beach Read is going to do really well. Both characters in this romance share a great Venn diagram. Both writers. But with totally different life views and thus topics in which they write. So when they switch and the pessimist has to write a romance and then the optimist has to write a great American novel they pull each other out of a rut and begin to see each other more clearly.
It’s a clean, commercial rom-com hook, but the material has enough grief and bite to keep it from feeling disposable. If Kuang leans into this tonal contrast, and Dynevor plays it grounded, this one could be really big.
And with 20th Century behind it, it’ll keep its integrity.
Fifth Season (Severance) has acquired the TV rights to Beautiful Bastard, the first erotic novel in a series of ten. The story is centered on a smart, ambitious, and young executive whose challenging rivalry with her new boss turns into something much deeper for both of them. Could this be the next 50 Shades? The pickup comes not long after the breakout success of another Fifth Season adaptation, the Netflix miniseries, His & Hers.
Amazon Studios is getting in on the fun set to adapt Vivian Tu’s nonfiction book, Rich AF: The Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life. The scripted series, Rich AF, is a riches to rags story following the daughter of a billionaire who loses everything when her father’s white collar crimes are exposed. A former Wall Street trader, Tu will EP alongside Sarah Kucserka (Amazon’s The Summer I Turned Pretty).
Amazon MGM is also developing A Stage Set for Villains, a film adaptation of the bestselling YA novel and debut of New York-based author Shannon J. Spann. The premise is wild. The story follows a cursed teen who must navigate a deadly, abandoned theater filled with godlike beings, where competing for immortality puts her very survival at risk.