In the first deal of its kind, Focus Features and publisher Random House have come to a co-ownership agreement regarding the apparent goldmine of books-into-movies. Author Deen Koontz is the latest to benefit from the deal, two other books have already been tagged to become films. Announced Monday, Focus plans to turn a third as-of-yet unpublished novel, The Husband, into a movie as well.
The new (novel?) idea from innovative Focus Features means that both studio and publisher will own the films, which also means they'll both finance the productions, effectively turning the publishers into co-producers. It's a crafty approach to an existing industry standard practice - films are adapted from previously written work all the time. Now, when it comes to the next best seller from Random House and any of its imprints, Focus Features already has an in there..
The first two films the companies have marked as potential films are both set in the Middle East - Yasmina Khadra's The Attack, and Bob Drogin's Curveball, a non-fiction book on the war in Iraq. The Husband follows one man's torment after an afternoon phonecall from a stranger. An article from Reuters quotes Koontz praising the studio: "...the people at Focus understand both story and subtext; they make narratively engaging, intelligent movies. Their creative but faithful adaptations of books into films have been remarkable."