Film News!! MGM lands rights to Terry Hayes “I am Pilgrim”

LOS ANGELES, CA (July 17, 2014) – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) has secured the feature film rights to Terry Hayes’ international bestselling espionage thriller “I Am Pilgrim” it was announced today by Jonathan Glickman, MGM’s president, motion picture group. Hayes, a former journalist and award-winning screenwriter whose credits include “Payback,” “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior” and “Dead Calm” is adapting his debut novel for the screen. Lloyd Braun is producing the film through his Whalerock Industries.  Andrew Mittman at Whalerock will serve as Executive Producer.

“Pilgrim” is the codename for a man who doesn’t exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence. Now in anonymous retirement, he is called upon to lend his expertise to an unusual investigation but ultimately becomes caught in a terrifying race-against-time to save America from oblivion. 

The thriller, which has recently landed on The New York Times bestseller list and has appeared on countless recommended summer reading lists nationwide, soon will be translated into 20 foreign language editions. It has also already appeared on the major US, UK, German and Dutch bestseller lists. Critical raves include The New York Times’ Janet Maslin: “Mr. Hayes’s globe-trotting book has more kicks, twists and winks than anything of its dusty genre has provided in a long time. You will be happily surprised to find a new thriller franchise with brains to match its brawn;” The New York Post: “The next Girl With The Dragon Tattoo;” The Daily Mail: “A summer blockbuster;” and The Associated Press: “The storytelling and a truly intriguing protagonist make I Am Pilgrim a contender for best-of-the-year lists.”

“In creating such an original character in such a riveting, relevant story, Terry has provided us a great template for not only one film, but for a series that can play to global audiences for many years to come,” said Glickman.

"Having written and produced movies myself, the most important thing for me when it came to selling the film rights to Pilgrim was the people who would be involved. Luckily, it turned out better than I could have ever imagined - I have had the pleasure of working with Gary Barber and Jonathan Glickman previously and I have long been an admirer of Lloyd Braun and the wonderful material he has championed. I couldn't be happier that not only this book, but those which are due to follow, is in their hands," said Hayes.

Hayes is represented by WME and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren & Richman, LLP. Emily Bestler Books/Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, is the U.S. publisher of “I Am Pilgrim” and Transworld, a division of Penguin Random House, is the novel’s UK publisher. MGM’s Glickman and Matt Dines, vice president, production will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.

MGM will be in theaters next with Hercules, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and directed by Brett Ratner, on July 25 with Paramount Pictures. The studio’s romantic film If I Stay, starring Chloe Moretz, is scheduled for release August 22 with partner Warner Bros./New Line. Also with Warner Bros./New Line is the final film in The Hobbit Trilogy, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies due in theaters December 17. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 with Paramount Pictures will also arrive in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day.

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 About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is celebrating 90 years as a leader in the entertainment business and as an innovator in the industry. Today, MGM is an entertainment company focused on the production and distribution of film and television content globally. The company owns one of the world’s deepest libraries of premium film and television content.  In addition, MGM has investments in domestic and international television channels. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

Media Contacts:

Film:

Kristin Cotich

MGM

(310) 449-606/kcotich@mgm.com

Publishing:

In the US:

David Brown

Simon & Schuster

(212) 698-7092/David.Brown@simonandschuster.com

In the UK:

Polly Osborn

Transworld

(+44) 20 8231 6795/posborn@randomhouse.co.uk

US Supreme Court v Estate of Arthur Conan Doyle - the continuation

In what could be the preface for the key copyright ruling of 2015, lawyers for the estate of the long deceased Arthur Conan Doyle filed an appeal before the US Supreme Court this week.

Lawyers for the Conan Doyle estate are asking the USSC to a temporary stay of the June 2014 ruling by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals while the lawyers file a formal appeal. The request comes after the 7th Circuit refused to stay its decision on 9 July.

Update: The request for the temporary stay has already been rejected.

Today’s appeal is the latest (and last, hopefully) stage in an 18 month long legal battle which will decide a critical point in copyright law.

Starting in February 2013, California lawyer and Holmes aficionado Leslie S. Klinger has been fighting a legal battle with the Conan Doyle estate over the exact copyright status of Holmes, Watson, and other literary creations of Conan Doyle. According to the estate, the characters and other details created by Conan Doyle are still under copyright, even though many of the stories written by Conan Doyle have fallen into the public domain.

Arthur Conan Doyle has been dead for 84 years, but due to extensions to copyright terms, ten of the 56 short stories he wrote about Sherlock Holmes are still in copyright. All of the short stories and the four novels were published between 1887 and 1927, and all of the works except the ten short stories have entered into the public domain in the US as copyrights expired. These works also entered the public domain in much of the world in the year 2001, 70 years after the author’s death.

On the basis of the 10 stories, the Conan Doyle estate has been collecting fees from any American publisher or media company which used the characters created by Conan Doyle.

Klinger disagreed with the estate’s interpretation, and in February 2013 he filed a lawsuit in order to get a definitive ruling on the matter. He was inspired to sue after the Conan Doyle estate had blocked the publication of his latest Holmes anthology, In the Company of Sherlock Holmes.

Klinger had declined to pay the license fee demanded by the estate, even though he (or rather, his publisher) had paid license fees for his previous Holmes works, including The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library and The Grand Game: A Celebration of Sherlockian Scholarship.

Klinger’s lawyer’s won the lawsuit in December 2013, and then they won the appeal before the 7th Circuit in June 2014. The appeals court concurred with the district court, ruling that elements of stories in the public domain can be used by anyone because the stories are in the public domain.

Naturally the Conan Doyle estate doesn’t appreciate that the ruling has taken away its cash cow, and they are now appealing to the US Supreme Court.

The Conan Doyle estate is asking for a temporary stay of the appeal court ruling while they file an appeal before the US Supreme Court. Lawyers for the estate are asking for the temporary stay because Klinger has not submitted his new ontology to the estate, so they have no way to determine if it uses any elements from the 10 stories under copyright. (The fact that this issue could be resolved after the fact like any other copyright infringement case seems to have escaped the Conan Doyle estate.)

The estate’s application was filed with Justice Elena Kagan, who is responsible for handling requests for temporary legal orders from cases from the 7th circuit. The Klinger case against the state began in federal district court in Illinois. Justice Kagan has the authority to grant or deny the stay request on her own, and she can also choose to share it with her colleagues or for a response from Klinger before making a decision.

It’s difficult to say what Kagan will decide, but it’s worth noting that she was part of the majority opinion in the 2012 Kirtsaeng decision. That case affirmed the concept of the First Sale doctrine, limiting the control a copyright holder has over a work once it has been sold.

 

The post Conan Doyle Estate Asks Supreme Court to Remove Sherlock Holmes from Public Domain appeared first on The Digital Reader.

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2014 announced

credit Fenris Oswin

Belinda Bauer on Thursday 17 July 2014 at 9pm scooped the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for Rubbernecker.

Celebrating its tenth year, the Award is considered one of the most coveted crime writing prizes in the country.

The CWA 2010 Gold Dagger Award-winning author received glowing reviews for Rubbernecker featuring Patrick Fort, a medical student with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Belinda was presented the award by title sponsor Simon Theakston and broadcaster Mark Lawson at the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. The annual Festival, hosted in Harrogate, is the world’s biggest celebration of the genre.

She beat off stiff competition from the shortlist of six, whittled down from a longlist of 18 titles published by British and Irish authors over the last year.

Belinda said: “This is really unexpected; it feels like a very lucky accident to win this award when my fellow shortlisted authors seem so much smarter than me! I’m delighted. It’s a wonderful festival and such a prestigious prize. I’d like to thank the judges who read all the shortlisted books, and Simon Theakston for sponsoring the Festival. I’d particularly like to thank my publishers, Transworld, and my wonderful agent, Jane Gregory.”

The 2014 Award is run in partnership with T & R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and Radio Times. Belinda collected a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade oak cask provided by Theakstons Old Peculier.

Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston, said:

“It was a very tough decision as it is every year as all the books on the shortlist were outstanding but I’m delighted to hand the trophy to Belinda.”

credit Fenris Oswin

A special presentation was made to Lynda La Plante - the winner of the fifth Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.

Lynda said: “'I am delighted to be at the Festival this year and it is a great honour to be the recipient of such a prestigious award.  I've decided to dedicate my award to the late Verity Lambert, who had faith in me at the very start of my writing career when she commissioned Widows.  Also to the readers of my books and viewers of my television productions, they give me such enthusiastic and valuable feedback and without them I wouldn't have this wonderful career that I enjoy so much.”

La Plante joins Ruth Rendell, PD James, Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill as recipients of the Award.

The Liverpool author began her career as an actress before turning to scriptwriting.  La Plante has written over 170 hours of award winning television drama including Widows, Prime Suspect and Above Suspicion. She recently announced she has begun writing TENNSISON, based on her character Jane Tennison (played by Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect), which will follow the character from the age of 21 when she first joins the police force as a WPC.

La Plante’s new standalone novel, Twisted continues La Plante’s run of internationally acclaimed best sellers.

Simon Theakston added: “It’s also a great privilege to welcome Lynda La Plante to Harrogate to collect her Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. This award acknowledges her huge contribution not only to crime fiction, but to British culture as a whole with her iconic television oeuvre.”

ENDS

For further information please contact Ann Chadwick at Cause UK 07534892715/ ann@causeuk.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

For more on Belinda visit: http://www.belindabauer.co.uk

Belinda Bauer – Rubbernecker

Patrick didn't care what made people work. He was only interested in what happened when they stopped. Life is strange for Patrick Fort - being a medical student with Asperger's Syndrome doesn't come without its challenges. And that's before he is faced with solving a possible murder. Because the body Patrick is examining in anatomy class is trying to tell him all kinds of things. And now he must stay out of danger long enough to unravel the mystery - while he dissects his own evidence...

1.      AWARD DATE

17th July: winner announced at Award ceremony on Opening Night of Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Harrogate (8pm, Thu 17 July) at the Old Swan Hotel.

 How the Awards are judged:

The winner was decided by a panel of Judges: Executive Director of T&R Theakston Ltd. and title sponsor Simon Theakston, Festival Chair and author, Steve Mosby, Radio Times’ TV Editor, Alison Graham, and Head of Fiction at WHSmith, Dave Swillman, as well as the public vote.

2.        THE FULL SHORTLIST 2014

Denise Mina -The Red Road

Malcolm Mackay - The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter

Peter May - The Chessmen

Belinda Bauer - Rubbernecker

Elly Griffiths - Dying Fall

Stav Sherez - Eleven Days

3.      PREVIOUS WINNERS

2005 – Lazy Bones by Mark Billingham

2006 – The Torment of Others by Val McDermid

2007 – Two Way Split by Allan Guthrie

2008 – The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

2009 – Death Message by Mark Billingham

2010 - A Simple Act of Violence by RJ Ellory

2011 – 61 Hours by Lee Child

2012 – The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina

2013 – Beasts and Gods, by Denise Mina

3.      ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is Europe’s largest event dedicated to the celebration of crime fiction. Taking place annually over four days each July (this year: 17-20 July), the Festival programmes over 80 best-selling UK and international crime authors and over 20 events. It is organised and promoted by the north of England’s leading arts festival organisation, Harrogate International Festivals. Ranked in the top three literary festivals in the UK by The Guardian, it is also featured in the Independent ‘50 Best Festivals’.

This first ever Festival was in 2003; the Awards are now in their tenth year.

4.      ABOUT THEAKSTONS

Title sponsor of the Festival since 2005, Theakstons Old Peculier ale is produced by T & R Theakston Ltd. It is one of the country’s most famous and highly regarded traditional ale brewers. Theakstons was established in Masham, North Yorkshire in 1827 by Robert Theakston. After a brief period in the 1980s when the company was acquired by Scottish & Newcastle plc, the company has been back under family ownership since autumn 2003.  It now operates as an independent brewer producing five permanent brands in the Theakstons range including the iconic Old Peculier – its best-known beer with a rich, dark flavour, celebrated by ale enthusiasts all over Britain and around the world. Theakstons Old Peculier is now available in the United States again thanks to an agreement between the brewer and Latis Imports of Connecticut.

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Ngaio Marsh Award Longlist

Craig Sisterston (Crime Watch) has announced the longlist for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best New Zealand Crime Novel. On Saturday, 30 August, the fifth recipient of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will be announced following the Great New Zealand Crime Debate event at the WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival 2014.

The shortlist for the Ngaio Marsh Award will be announced in August. However, it was thought that it would be good to announce the 8 books on the longlist.

The longlisted titles for the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award are as follows –

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

Joe Victim by Paul Cleave

The Beckoning Ice by Joan Druett

Frederick’s Coat by Alan Duff

My Sister’s Keeper by Donna Malane

Where Dead Men Go by Liam McIlvanney

Cross Fingers by Paddy Richardson

Only the Dead by Ben Sanders

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

H/T to Janet Rudolph and Mystery FanFare.

The return of Cab Bolton

Today’s guest blog is by Brian Freeman.  Brian Freeman is an international bestselling author of psychological suspense novels.  His books have been sold in 46 countries and 20 languages.  Brian’s debut thriller, Immoral, won the Macavity Award and was a nominee for the Edgar®, Dagger, Anthony, and Barry awards for best first novel. 

Readers first met Cab Bolton in my sixth novel The Bone House — which was also my first novel not to feature Duluth police lieutenant Jonathan Stride.  I originally envisioned The Bone House as a stand-alone, but readers soon demanded to see more of this quirky Florida detective.

Well, after the pure stand-alone Spilled Blood (which won the 2013 Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel) and the new Stride novel The Cold Nowhere, Cab Bolton is finally back in an all-new thriller Season of Fear.

So how does Cab Bolton differ from the intense, introspective Jonathan Stride?

“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you,” Cab Bolton’s mother tells him.  “And yet I stick with it,” he replies.

 Cab isn’t your typical cop.  For one thing, he doesn’t look much like a cop. Imagine a young Peter O’Toole…absolutely amazing blue eyes, spiky blonde hair, skin so perfect you want to know what moisturizer he uses.  He’s crazy-tall and wouldn’t be caught dead in anything but an expensive suit.  He’s got money, thanks to his Hollywood mother, so he’s a cop not because he HAS to be but because he WANTS to be.  He enjoys the game.

The challenge.  He’s clever, and he’s good at it.  However, Cab may as well wear a sign that says: Does not play well with others.  He hates authority.  He doesn’t like rules.  He’s still figuring out what he wants to do with his life.  And for most of his 35 years, he’s been playing a game of hopscotch, jumping from place to place.  Other cops call him Catch-a-Cab Bolton, because he always has one foot out of town.

 He loves women (okay, he has that in common with Stride), but he doesn’t trust them.  He’s been betrayed by women before, and he grew up with a mother who didn’t know the meaning of commitment herself.  So his relationship with his girlfriend Lala is on-again, off-again.  There are fireworks in bed and fireworks when they argue.  Don’t make bets on a long-term affair for them.

His other relationship — with his actress mother Tarla — is just as problematic.  He lived on the other side of the world from her for years, but now she’s back in his life and trying to control it.  Tarla made Cab who he is, and he’s not entirely sure he likes that.  She also keeps secrets from him — like not telling him who his father was or why he has the odd name Cab.  So when people ask, he just makes up stories.

One thing about Cab…he’s genuinely charming.  Handsome.  Funny.  Sharp.  He banters with friends and enemies alike.  He’s secure about who he is and who he’s not.  He takes life seriously and himself not at all.  Which makes him impossible not to like.

Season of Fear also takes me to a new setting in hot, humid central Florida.  Most of my earlier

books (except the Vegas-based Stripped) have taken place in the American Midwest, with its dirt roads, bitter winters, and dark forests.  I love the drama of those settings, and I like to give readers a “you are there” feel, where they are dropped into the middle of every scene and can taste, touch, feel, and smell it happening all around them.

However, Florida weather is typically so darn nice that writers just seem to have fun with it.  Many of the great Florida writers are satirists (think Hiaasen) who deliciously profile the offbeat, Jimmy Buffett-meets-Lindsay Lohan attitude of Miami and the Keys.  Me, I wanted to see if I could export my love of dark settings to a place called the Sunshine State.  Needless to say, some really bad weather is headed for the coast.

Cab is a Florida detective, but will he stay that way?  Don’t count on it.  You can’t separate Jonathan Stride from his hometown of Duluth, but Cab doesn’t have the same roots.  He doesn’t have a hometown at all, and chances are, he’ll show up in other settings going forward.

Some readers are already asking: Will Jonathan Stride ever meet Cab Bolton? Will they — like Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller — turn out to have some secret family connection that bridges my two series?  No, I don’t think so.  Cab and Stride are opposites of each other in many ways.  Stride is the emotional hero — driven by his relationships, passionate (sometimes too passionate) about the victims he’s trying to help.  Cab isn’t comfortable with emotions.  He doesn’t like to go there, because usually, he doesn’t like what he sees.  And if Stride always seems tangled in a web of women, Cab is a loner at heart.  I think Cab and Stride would be oil and water if I put

them together in a book.

 

More information about Brian and his books can be found on his website.  You can also follow him on Twitter @bfreemanbooks and find him on Facebook.

Season of Fear by Brian Freeman is out now in hardback, £16.99 (Quercus)