The producers of popular Netflix franchises such as The Princess Switch and Christmas Prince have struck a book-to-film deal with novelist Adele Parks, one the biggest-selling women’s fiction authors in the UK.
Veteran U.S. producer Brad Krevoy’s (Dumb And Dumber) MPCA and BAFTA Breakthrough Brit AJ Riach’s (Set Fire to the Stars) UK-based Engage Productions have entered into the exclusive deal to produce the books, most likely for streamers.
The first book to be adapted will be Parks’ recent Sunday Times bestseller Just My Luck, followed by 2019 novel Lies Lies Lies. Krevoy, Riach and Parks are currently interviewing writers and plan to launch sales for Just My Luck in the UK immediately, followed by the U.S.
More than 3.8 million English-edition copies of Parks’ 20 novels have been sold around the world. The stories, often psychological domestic thrillers, have been translated into 27 languages. The 2020 book Just My Luck, told from multiple perspectives, explores how one couple’s contested lottery win has a dangerous knock-on effect both on them and their friends.
Krevoy and Riach are currently producing A Castle For Christmas for Netflix, starring Brooke Shields and Cary Elwes and directed by Mary Lambert. Previously, the duo collaborated on Netflix’s 2018 film The Princess Switch and this year’s sequel The Princess Switch: Switched Again, starring Vanessa Hudgens and Sam Palladio.
Parks said of the deal: “From the moment I met both AJ & Brad and the team at MPCA I knew I found the perfect people to adapt my novels for the screen. Their brilliant vision, extraordinary energy, and business acumen make me feel confident that they will deliver what my fans have been desperate for, for so long — credible, punchy, entertaining, edge-of-your-seat adaptations. I couldn’t be more excited about this collaboration.”
“We are very excited about the opportunity to work with Adele and turn her bestselling novels into fan-favorite movies! We’re confident that these projects are perfect for both the UK and U.S. markets and will be worldwide successes,” commented Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin producer Krevoy, who was Orion Pictures co–resident for two years in the 1990s.
“We are thrilled to be working with Adele and MPCA to adapt these psychological domestic thrillers. These contemporary stories are everyone’s worst nightmare, set in homes we all know, showing the darkest choices people make. Audiences will be left terrified and breathless in equal measures,” added Riach.
MPCA has emerged as one of the top independent producers of holiday and family-friendly content for Netflix, Hallmark and other broadcasters. They’ve produced more than 70 films in the genre, including hit Netflix original movies like the Christmas Prince trilogy, Holiday In the Wild starring Rob Lowe and Kristin Davis, The Knight Before Christmas starring Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse, and Hallmark’s Christmas In Rome starring Lacey Chabert. MPCA is currently filming its eighth season of When Calls the Heart, which is now the Hallmark Channel’s longest-running and highest-rated original series.
Parks is repped by UK-based agents Jonny Geller and Luke Speed at Curtis Brown.
via Deadline