‘Eruption’ From Michael Crichton and James Patterson Set to Ignite Bidding War as Film Rights Go to Auction (EXCLUSIVE)
04.05.2024 - 01:31
/ variety.com
Katcy Stephan Hollywood’s next bidding war is about to erupt. “Eruption,” the much-discussed upcoming volcano disaster novel from the late Michael Crichton and James Patterson, is about to be brought to auction, attracting a large group of suitors keen on landing the sought-after film rights.
The auction, being conducted by Shane Salerno at the Story Factory and CAA, will begin within the next two weeks, and could kick off as early as next week, Variety can exclusively reveal. The project has drawn interest from most major studios, streamers and networks, as well as high-profile directors who have shared that they’d leap at the chance to helm a Crichton project.
Projects created by the author or adapted from his work include the “Jurassic Park” franchise, “Twister” and “Westworld.” Crichton was also the creator of “ER,” which Variety is told brought in over $3.2 billion for Warner Bros. Several A-list actors have reached out regarding the novel, which is centered around a man and a woman described as having a “Moonlighting” or “Fall Guy”-esque banter throughout larger-than-life action sequences.
While there are no official numbers on the table just yet, one source tells Variety that the auction is expected to snowball into a monumental bidding war, given the potential of these two highly successful authors. “There’s no comp for this: two authors with combined sales of 700 million,” they said, likening the collaboration to that of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg on “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” To this day, Crichton is still the only author who’s ever been associated with the top movie, TV series and book in the U.S.
within the same week. Even 15 years after his death, Crichton’s name is everywhere in Hollywood in 2024,
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