THE DEVIL YOU KNOW the Movie

I haven't blogged about this before, but movie rights for my first picture book, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW were optioned back in 2007 by Fox, with Shawn Levy, director of NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM in the producer's seat. It was all very exciting. Shawn Levy even called me to say congratulations. Wild huh?

Well, the option was renewed last week. And yesterday I found out a little more about the script from a New York Magazine "Culture" interview (see the whole article here.) The interview is with Thomas Lennon, one of the script writers, (and one of my all time favorite comedians, remember MTV's "The State?" My family has a worn VHS tape recorded back in the mid-90's which we know ALL the lines to. Monkey Torture, Porcupine Racetrack--even Froggy Jamboree, the skit so bad it had to be placed under the credits--we LOVE you Thomas! We want YOU to play the role of the little devil!) anyway, as the script writer, he says:

"The Devil You Know is based on a children’s book by Nathan Hale, about an American family that buys this house in Galway and it’s got this horrifying little goblin that lives in it. They hire this Irish nanny, a kind of fairy godmother, and it turns out she’s much much worse than the goblin — hence the title."

This is my first peek into how they are approaching the story (sounds fun!) I wish I could be a fly on the wall and hear all the screenwriting ideas. I'm always interested to see what movie studios do to turn a 32 page picture book into a full length movie. The Ireland angle is something I didn't expect, but it makes sense. I'll let you know if I find any more news.