Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Beautiful Creatures

4/11/12 - Alcon has tapped Alden Ehrenreich to replace Jack O’Connell in Beautiful Creatures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  The adaptation of the first book from the popular series was written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.  Richard LaGravenese wrote the adaptation and is directing.  O’Connell was supposed to play the character of Ethan Wate but stepped aside due to scheduling conflicts.  Ehrenreich will play one of two high school teens who must confront curses and dark secrets that have haunted their families for generations.  Ehrenreich joins Viola Davis, Emma Thompson, Jeremy Irons, Emmy Rossum, Alice Anglert and Thomas Mann.  Alcon’s Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove are producing with Erwin Stoff.  Shooting is due to begin later this month in New Orleans.

2/15/12 - Summit Entertainment sold Richard LaGravenese's book-to-film adaptation Beautiful Creatures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Alcon Entertainment is backing Beautiful Creatures in the U.S., where it will be released by Warner Bros. The plot revolves around two star-crossed teens -- an ordinary local boy and a mysterious new girl -- who uncover dark secrets about their own history and their families.  Emma Thompson has joined the cast and is set to play the dual role of Mrs. Lincoln, a small-town religious firebrand, and Sarafine, who is the dark witch who possesses her. Thompson joins Viola Davis, the first actress cast for the film. The other actors are relative newcomers, including leads Jack O’Connell and Alice Englert.  Alcon’s Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove are producing, as are Erwin Stoff and Molly Smith.

12/1/09 - Warner Bros. has acquired Beautiful Creatures, the first of a five-novel series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl that's being published today by Little, Brown, according to Variety.  Richard LaGravenese is set to write the script and direct the film.  Erwin Stoff will produce.  In the first book, high-school student Ethan Wate meets and becomes bewitched by Lena Duchannes, a 16-year-old whose family has moved to the small South Carolina town where he lives. The two must confront a curse that has haunted her family for generations as she comes to grips with her powers.  "I love supernatural stories that have well-drawn mythologies, and I liked that this book has all the basic elements of a classic first love story with a supernatural layer over it," LaGravenese said. "So the first time they hear the words ‘boyfriend' and ‘girlfriend,' they accidentally overhear each other telepathically. Their first kiss comes after he saves her life, and their first date is part of a bigger adventure that leads to the unraveling of the mysterious curse that haunts her family."

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