It’s a perfect world for novelists and those with incredible true stories. . . . A handful of fantasy/sci-fi specs in development, including The Drowned World, WB and Heyday producing, and the children’s fantasy Tunnels, both based on novels of the same name. A new Fantastic Four coming soon. Newcomer Josh Trank at the helm. And Melissa McCarthy will try her hand at writing (and still starring, this time with real-life husband Ben Falcone) in Just Do It, about a married couple who plans to have sex for 101 straight days. Naturally, a romantic comedy. Other script sales include: – A testament to the talents of the late John Hughes, Paramount and Roth films working on a rewrite of his script The Grisbys Go Broke. – Barry Levinson directing a biopic on gangster Whitey Bulger. Johnny Depp attached. – Keeping the video game adaptation trend alive: Spy Hunter, based on…

This was inevitable, but may have happened a little sooner than most anticipated–and with an unlikely name at the helm: JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot taking a bit of a genre turn with Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong to be released through Paramount. Also proving that notorious true stories get the fast-track-to-development, Happy Valley will cover Joe Paterno and the Penn State scandal, with Brian De Palma directing and Al Pacino attached to play the legendary coach. And over a decade after the enthralling original, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 set to go into production. The Weinsteins producing. Other script sales include: – Apparently inspired by a mere illustration: the fantasy/family Teddy Bear, about a stuffed animal who protects its owner from monsters under the bed. – Entourage the movie gets the green light. Mark Wahlberg co-producing. The original cast set to reprise their roles. – MGM. Ben-Hur….

A relatively unremarkable month for script sales after a big 2012, but some great projects in development nonetheless. A few teen/sci-fi scripts in the mix, including Monument 14, based on the recent novel, and Reboot, which will be published in 2013. Benderspink and Summit Entertainment co-producing the comedy Bitches 11, and Script Pipeline partner Thruline Entertainment managing the writer of recently sold Revoc, a sci-fi/thriller. Summit producing as well, with Mandeville Films. Steve Carrell may also star in the based-on-a-true-story comedy about everyone in a small village winning the lottery–except one man. Other script sales include: – 20th Century Fox adapting the sci-fi/thriller Theory of Everything, from the uber-cool comic series. – Disney + sea creatures = inevitably heartwarming in Dolphin Boy, about dolphins nurturing the recovery of a young Arab boy. – Can’t wait to see the plot: Alice in Wonderland 2 has the green light. Joe Roth producing….

Adaptations abound in November. Benderspink and Gareb Shamus’ Black Bull Media co-producing The New West, based on the sci-fi/action comic series. Also on Benderspink’s slate: Home Invasion, a found footage thriller with Joel Silver co-producing. Chris Columbus back in action with a screen adaptation of his novel series House of Secrets. Fox Searchlight producing a biopic of famed singer Susan Boyle, and Johnny Carson also getting the life story treatment. Other script sales include: – Tom Hardy to star in Splinter Cell, based on the mega-popular video game. – Danny DeVito, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Eddie Murphy join forces for a third installment of Twins (no, no. . . seriously). – One can hardly type it out, but. . . Star Wars. Episode VII. For real. Geeks and non-geeks everywhere rejoice. – No relation to Mean Girls, Cameron Diaz and Reese Witherspoon starring in Mean Moms.

Huge month for script sales. Danny DeVito producing (and with a little luck, starring) in the comedy Honeymoon with Dad. Title self-explanatory. Based on the graphic novel, Benderspink producing the action/thriller Langley High, as well as the rather cool-sounding Foretold about a man sent through time to overthrow a future, evil version of himself. Nia Vardalos is back on the rom-com–scratch that: anti-rom-com–trail with Leftovers. The spirit of The Magnificent Seven + Adam Sandler = Ridiculous 6. Perhaps a Three Amigos for the 21st century, and if so, bravo, Mr. Sandler. Other script sales include: – Elijah Wood starring in and producing Cooties, a horror about elementary school students turning into “mass savages”. . . . A very realistic horror, indeed. – Because the world needs a Scarface without a dated, albeit classic, 80s montage, Universal will reboot the crime/drama. – The doctor is in: development is underway for a…

The extraordinary writer of Safe House, David Guggenheim, sold his high-concept action spec Black Box to Universal. Speaking of which, a sequel to Safe House in the works, with Ryan Reynolds possibly starring. Disney will produce a remake of The Flamingo Kid, and Warner Bros. on board for another crack at a live-action/animated Looney Tunes movie. Powerhouses Benderspink and Heyday Films team up on an adaptation of the soon-to-be-published teen sci-fi/adventure The Planet Thieves. And rounding on noted sales include a couple former Blacklist scripts: a period drama, The Imitation Game, and the action By Way of Helena. Other script sales include: – Nic Cage is attached to the latest from Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko), the legal drama Amicus. Script Pipeline partner Darko Entertainment producing. – Soon, movie audiences can witness the power of “trading up” in One Red Paperclip, how one man, through a number of trades, goes from…

Name any genre and chances are at least one script in it sold, with close to 100 sales during a rather busy August. And four words seemed to pop up a lot: “to be based on.” Cameron Crowe returns with the drama Beautiful Boy, Plan B producing. Tom Cruise will star in a remake of The Magnificent Seven–remaining magnificent six have not yet been named. And the former, much-talked-about Blacklist script Chewie is headed toward production. The story is based on the life of Peter Mayhew, who played Star Wars’ Chewbacca. Prometheus and The Avengers also have sequels in the works. Other script sales include: – Here’s an “ologist” we haven’t seen before: The Demonologist, with Robert Zemeckis producing, based on the soon-to-be published novel about a “Paradise Lost” expert rescuing his daughter in a demonic underworld. – Riding the biblical wave, a script about the infamous Pontius Pilate. –…

Cutting right to the chase: Ghostbusters 3 has legs again, with the original cast to (potentially) return. Back on the low-budget horror train, Jason Blum is teaming up with Michael bay on Ouija. Jerry Weintraub will produce an adaptation on the life of Hugh Hefner–it’s about time, frankly. Apparently it’s under tight wraps, but four words: JJ. Abrams. Earthquake. Movie. And you know all the big studio films that were released this year? Yeah, they’re all getting sequels. Other script sales include: – Bill Murray rumored to star in St. Vincent de Van Nuys. – Another reboot, anyone? Fantastic Four may get the 5-star treatment in this new go-around. – Willow Smith probable to star in a remake of the Broadway hit Annie. Overbrook Entertainment producing. – Prometheus 2. So if it’s true that the first film was an Alien prequel of sorts, does that mean the sequel will just…