Amazon Moves Into The Movie Business

Bookseller Follows Coffee Shop Into Film

Internet retailer Amazon.com is making its first foray into the big-screen movie business after buying an option to develop a film from Keith Donohue's fantasy novel "The Stolen Child."

Amazon said it will not co-finance the film, but it plans to meet with studios and potential partners who can put the story, in which fairies steal a young boy and replace him with a changeling, on the silver screen. The book currently ranks No. 62 in Amazon's list of 100 top sellers.

News of the option was first reported in the movie industry trade magazine Variety.

"With our brand and our retail experience and customers around the world we believe we can be an extremely valuable partner in the development, marketing and distribution of this film," said Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener.

The deal comes on the heels of a recent agreement between Starbucks and Lionsgate in which the coffee shop company marketed the film "Akeelah and the Bee" in its stores.

While the partnership took Starbucks further into the entertainment arena--the company already sells music CDs in stores and has deals for exclusive content with stars like Bob Dylan and Alanis Morissette--the film itself disappointed at the box office.

See Movie Industry Lines Up For a Starbucks Coffee Buzz

See Starbucks Signs William Morris to Discover new Entertainment Deals