THE BOOK: Eggers was propelled to literary stardom in 2000 with the publication of his memoir about raising his little brother after the death of his parents when he was barely out of his teens.
WHAT HAPPENED? New Line paid a staggering $2 million to option the book shortly after it was published, but the path from tome to screen seemed problematic from the beginning. Initially, there was a dispute between Eggers and his then agent, who sued him, claiming Eggers hadn’t paid the commission on the deal. Later, Nick Hornby and D.V. DeVincentis started work on a screenplay, but it never went into production, and New Line eventually gave up on the project. It languished for years before the rights reverted back to Eggers.
WILL WE EVER SEE THIS MOVIE? Probably not. When it comes to Hollywood, Eggers’s main interest in recent years has been his collaboration with Spike Jonze on adapting the classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, which is scheduled to be released this October after its own extended development period.
POTENTIAL SAVIOR: Marc Forster has become the director to call when studios have challenging projects: He directed last year’s The Kite Runner (based on the best-selling novel), and next he’ll breathe new life into the James Bond franchise, directing the second installment to star Daniel Craig.
