Among the films that will premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival (January 19-29) are several based on books. The most well-known is Lay the Favorite, based on the 2010 gambling memoir by Beth Raymer (RH/Spiegel & Grau, 2010). Directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity), it is produced by Random House Films, a joint venture between Random House, Inc. and Focus Features. The company has released two other films, this summer’s hit starring Anne Hathaway, One Day and 2007’s Reservation Road.

Starring in Lay the Favorite are Bruce Willis, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rebecca Hall as the author. A look at several stills from the movie is available on Film Stage. No general release date has been announced.

The other movies based on books include:

GOATS, starring Vera Farmiga, David Duchovny and Graham Phillips. It is based on, Goats A Novel, by Mark Jude Poirier (Hyperion, 2000). PW called it a “meandering but ingratiating rites-of-passage tale.” No longer available from the publisher, it is owned by many libraries.

The supernatural thriller,  John Dies at the End, adapted from David Wong’s spoof of the horror genre, about a drug called “soy sauce” that enables time travel. It stars Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes and Paul Giamatti. The book was first published online  in 2001, then as a paperback by indie horror publisher, Permuted Press in 2007 and in hardcover by Macmillan/St. Martins in 2009. It is also widely held in libraries. The trailer is here.

Shadow Dancer based on the thriller by British author and  journalist (he scored the first interview with Prince William and Kate Middleton), Tom Bradby. He has written six novels including The White Russian and The Master of Rain. The movie stars Clive Owen and Gillian Anderson.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 at 10:02 am and is filed under Books & Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.