Counting on a Golden Globe win to bring attention to the movie The King’s Speech, which was released in just a few theaters in December, the Weinstein Co. expanded it nationwide last Friday. The gamble paid off. Colin Firth won a Golden Globe for Best Actor and the film did “impressive business” (Hollywood Reporter, 1/17/11) over the MLK weekend.

In the UK, it has been a surprise instant hit, attracting customers who have not been to the cinema in over a decade (Guardian, 1/18/11).

Oscar buzz has been attached to the film for a while; now, see it as the competition for best picture against the Social Network.

The movie is not based on a book, but a book by Logue’s grandson and co-writer, British journalist Peter Conradi, was recently published as a tie-in. USA Today writes about the book’s genesis in the current issue.

Libraries are showing heavy holds on modest orders.

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The King’s Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy Mark Logue, Peter Conradi Retail Price: $14.95 Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Sterling – (2010-11-26) ISBN / EAN: 140278676X / 9781402786761

The film adaptation of best selling British novel, One Day, originally planned for the fall, has been moved to July 8th. The move is seen as a vote of confidence for the indie film, as it now competes against blockbuster carry-overs from the previous July 4th weekend.

Directed by Lone Scherfig, who made her reputation with 2009’s An Education. Starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, One Day follows the lives of the characters, from the college graduation night they spend together, through the subsequent 20 years, revisiting them each year on July 15.

The book, which sold well here, was a phenomenon in the U.K. (see The Guardian, David Nicholls: why he made the headlines in 2010).

One Day (Vintage Contemporaries Original) David Nicholls Retail Price: $14.95 Paperback: 448 pages Publisher: Vintage – (2010-06-15) ISBN / EAN: 0307474712 / 9780307474711

Fans of Noomi Repace, who plays Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish films of The Millennium series, have not embraced the idea of an American actress replacing her in the English-language versions.

Their concerns may be laid to rest by the new issue of W magazine, on newsstands Jan. 25, featuring an early look at Mara Rooney in the role. Clearly, she has shed her college girl image from The Social Network. It is also clear that the movie will get the full Hollywood treatment.

The accompanying article says the script,

…departs rather dramatically from the book. Blomkvist is less promiscuous, Salander is more aggressive, and, most notably, the ending—the resolution of the drama—has been completely changed. This may be sacrilege to some, but [scriptwriter] Zaillian has improved on Larsson—the script’s ending is more interesting.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is scheduled for release in December.

Coming to theaters on March 24.

Trailer

It appears the sticky rights situation for a film adaptation of Unbroken has been cleared. Several movie news sources are reporting that Francis Lawrence, who just finished filming Water for Elephants, is in talks to direct Laura Hillenbrand’s best seller.

Universal has been trying to produce a film about the book’s central figure, Louis Zamperini since the ’50’s, when they bought Zamperini’s “life rights” as a starring vehicle for Tony Curtis. More recently, Brad Pitt had plans to produce, with Nicolas Cage starring. No news on who may star in this incarnation.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption Laura Hillenbrand Retail Price: $27.00 Hardcover: 496 pages Publisher: Random House – (2010-11-16) ISBN / EAN: 1400064163 / 9781400064168

RH Large Print; 9780375435010
RH Audio; 9780739319697

Director Baz Luhrmann has been studying up for his adaptation of The Great Gatsby and is inviting the public to be part of the process. Earlier this month, he told Entertainment Weekly,

Having spent at least two years full-time on [Gatsby], I probably have read [most every] book. But maybe not… I think engagement with an audience is great. I am fascinated about genuine audience participation because I grew up in the theater…I think to myself, well look, this [list] is what we’ve read. Go read that, and help me. If you want to have a point of view, get informed, then be helpful. Let’s try and make the best interpretation [for today].

Luhrmann’s research material is listed on the director’s Web site, with discussion on his Facebook page.

It was confirmed recently that Carey Mulligan will play Daisy, joining Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby. Release is planned for some time in 2012; plenty of time to organize “Reading with Baz” book groups.

The first full-length trailer of the movie based on the YA title, I Am Number Four, has just been released (a teaser appeared back in September).

The book is by James Frey and Jobie Hughes, writing under the pseudonym, Pittacus Lore. The movie. starring heart-throb-in-the-making Alex Pettyfer (he is also the lead in the upcoming film of Beastly), debuts in theaters on Feb. 18.

Official Web site: FindNumberFour.com

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I Am Number Four Movie Tie-in Edition Pittacus Lore Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 480 pages Publisher: HarperCollins – (2011-01-01) ISBN / EAN: 0062026240 / 9780062026248

Speculation is rife on who will win the coveted lead role of Katniss Everdeen in the upcoming movie of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008).

The L.A. Times quotes producer Nina Jacobson this week, who says auditioning will begin in the new year. There’s lots of interest, but,

“There are no front-runners yet…It really comes down to finding that person who can capture the physicality, the vulnerability and the toughness. She’s a paradoxical character and you need somebody who has the range to capture all of those dimensions.”

Directed by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit), the movie is set to begin shooting in the spring.

The entertainment news site BuzzSugar just posted a Winter Reading List: 15 Books to Read Before They’re on the Big Screen slideshow, useful for real and virtual book displays.

One caution, however, many of the movies have no cast or directors yet, so it’s anyone’s guess whether they will actually see the light of the big screen and one is opening today (True Grit, which is getting fantastic reviews and bringing new attention to the book; see our coverage, as well as yesterday’s NYT review).

You might prefer to use two of our Movies Based on Books lists (in links, at the right and continuously updated), Upcoming — with Tie-ins and In Production. If you want to go way out on the edge, check our Film Rights Acquired listing.

The BuzzSugar list leads with Jennifer Egan’s The Keep (the author’s A Visit from the Goon Squad has emerged as the top fiction pick on the Best Books ’10 lists).

It was optioned back in October, with Niels Arden Oplev, director of the Swedish-language Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, signed to direct, but no news since.

The long-gestating film version of Jonathan Safron Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is moving closer to reality. Warner Bros. announced this week that they signed up 13-year-old Jeopardy winner Thomas Horn to star as Oskar Schell. Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock will play his parents in the film directed by Stephen Daldry (who has some experience with book adaptations; he directed The Hours and The Reader). Producer Scott Rudin has been developing the project ever since the book was published in 2005, but as the movie news site Deadline stated, “it is not the easiest film adaptation.” Shooting is supposed to begin early next year.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer Retail Price: $14.95 Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: Mariner Books – (2006-04-04) ISBN / EAN: 0618711651 / 9780618711659

The first trailer for Water for Elephants debuted last night on Entertainment Tonight. It is scheduled for release on April 15th (UPDATE: Rescheduled to 4/22).

Cast:

Robert Pattinson … Jacob Jankowski
Reese Witherspoon … Marlena Rosenbluth
Christoph Waltz … August Rosenbluth
James Frain … Rosie’s Caretaker
Hal Holbrook … Jacob Jankowski – older
Paul Schneider … Charlie
Dan Lauria … Sheriff
Tim Guinee … Diamond Joe
Ken Foree … Earl
Scott MacDonald … Blackie
Abbie Dunn … Caroline
Tatum Etheridge … Jacob’s Daughter

The tie-in is scheduled for March:

Water for Elephants (movie tie-in)
Sara Gruen
Retail Price: $14.95
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books – (2011-03-01)
ISBN / EAN: 1616200707 / 9781616200701

Taylor Lautner will star as Finn in Incarceron, based on Catherine Fisher’s YA novel. When Fox signed it up, Variety reported that the studio hoped to turn it into a franchise (the second book in the series, Sapphique releases on Dec. 28th and is on three Best Children’s Books lists — PW, SLJ and the Washington Post).

Lautner stars as Jacob in the Twilight Saga.

Incarceron (Incarceron, Book 1) Catherine Fisher Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 448 pages Publisher: Dial – (2010-01-26) ISBN / EAN: 0803733968 / 9780803733961

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Sapphique Catherine Fisher Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: Dial – (2010-12-28) ISBN / EAN: 0803733976 / 9780803733978

After many delays, it appears that The Life of Pi may actually become a film (in 3-D no less). Director Ang Lee just cast Gerard Depardieu as the chef and Irrfan Khan as the grown-up version of the title character.

Irrfan Khan starred in the most recent season of HBO’s In Treatment and also appeared in the films Slumdog Millionaire and The Namesake.

In October, Ang cast newcomer Suraj Sharma for the lead, over 3,000 other teenagers he auditioned.

Life of Pi Yann Martel Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 326 pages Publisher: Mariner Books – (2003-05-01) ISBN / EAN: 0156027321 / 9780156027328

Coming in January, Anthony Hopkins stars as an exorcist in The Rite, based on the nonfiction title by Matt Baglio, which came out last year. The movie opens on January 28.

Official Movie Site, What-Do-You-Believe.com

Tie-in:

The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist Matt Baglio Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Doubleday Religion – (2010-06-15) ISBN / EAN: 0385522711 / 9780385522717

On the heels of the expected success of the Coen brothers’ adaptation of True Grit, two more books about the West are queuing up. The Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne, a book about the Comanche warrior Quanah, which came out this summer and was chosen as a Best Book by the NYT Book Review, has been acquired by Warner Brothers, with Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) set to direct. Larry McMurtry is working with Diana Ossana on the script, according to the movie news blog, Deadline.

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History S. C. Gwynne Retail Price: $27.50 Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Scribner – (2010-05-25) ISBN / EAN: 1416591052 / 9781416591054

The pair, who wrote the script for Brokeback Mountain, are also working on a script for The Color of Lightning by Paulette Jiles for Ridley Scott to direct at 20th Century Fox. In this case, the book is a novel about a man trying to rescue his family and friends from the Comanches.

The Color of Lightning: A Novel (P.S.) Paulette Jiles Retail Price: $14.99 Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: Harper Perennial – (2010-06-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061690457 / 9780061690457