Here are some of the most notable script sales from April 2022.
- The Streets of Rage adaptation found a home with DJ2 Entertainment and Escape Artists. The script was written by Derek Kolstad and based on the SEGA video game franchise. The original 1991 game was directed by Noriyoshi Ohba.
- Universal Pictures, Silk Mass, and Evil Media Empire have picked up Ryan Belenzon and Jeff Gelber’s thriller spec Batshit.
- Highland Film Group, Broken Open Pictures, and Volition Media Partners will produce David Frigerio and William Eubank’s action/thriller Land of Bad. Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth will star, and Eubank will direct.
- Far Pictures and Trybe Films will produce the romance/drama Re-Live: A Tale of an American Island, written by Rain Valdez and 2020 Script Pipeline Runner-up Rachel Leyco. Valdez will also direct. The script also appeared on the 2022 GLAAD List.
- Stop-motion powerhouse Laika will be making the animated noir drama The Night Gardener. Bill Dubuque will write the script, and Travis Knight (who previously helmed Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings) will direct.
- Big Rich Films and the British Film Institute will produce writer/director Gareth Tunley’s psychological thriller The Unraveling.
- Writer/director Matt Reeves will return for DC and Warner Bros.’ sequel to The Batman. Robert Pattinson will also return.
- Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, and Territory Pictures will make the western Horizon. Kevin Costner will producer and direct, and he’ll also share writing duties with Jon Baird.
- Broken English Productions and Grandave Capital have optioned A Christmas to Remember from writers Erick Galindo and Patty Rodriguez.
- A24, Film4 Productions, and Lobo Films are moving forward with the romantic thriller Love Lies Bleeding. Rose Glass will direct and co-write with Weronika Tofilsk. Academy Award–nominee Kristen Stewart is attached to star.
- Lionsgate and Romark Films is turning Zoë Bell’s viral short film “Boss Bitch Fight Challenge” into a feature. Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Marie Hart will write and executive produce, and Bell will return to direct.
- Ghost of Tsushima is getting an adaptation! Sony, PlayStation Productions, and 87eleven will produce. Takashi Doscher will write. Chad Stehelski will direct. The 2020 game was originally directed by Nate Fox and Jason Connell and written by Ian Ryan, Liz All, Patrick Downs, and Jordan Lemos.
- Screen Gems and Sad Unicorn will be making Two and Only, written by Jen Rivas-DeLoose. Academy Award–winner Ariana DeBose will executive produce and star.
- Focus Features and Working Title Films is making a (currently untitled) Ethan Coen movie. Coen will direct and co-write with Tricia Cooke.
Adaptations currently in development can be found here on Book Pipeline.