The Weinstein Company Acquires Rights to Bob Marley Autobiography

The Weinstein Company has acquired the rights to develop, produce and distribute the first ever biopic about the legendary Jamaican singer, songwriter, guitarist, and activist, Bob Marley and his wife Rita Marley. The feature film will be based on the autobiography "No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley" written by Rita Marley, the widow of the legendary reggae musician. The book is an intimate and epic account of their relationship, which went from the streets of Trenchtown to the heights of the international music and political worlds. Rudy Langlais ("The Hurricane") is set to produce the film from a script written by Lizzie Borden ("Working Girls"). Rita Marley will serve as executive producer.

Production Executive, Ben Famiglietti brought this project to The Weinstein Company, along with Michael Cole, Co-Head of Production. They will oversee the project on behalf of The Weinstein Company. Eric Roth, EVP of Business and Legal Affairs negotiated the deal on behalf of The Weinstein Company. Mickey Freiberg from ACME Talent Literary along with Eric Weissmann from Weissmann, Wolf, Bergman, Colman & Silverman negotiated on behalf of Rudy Langlais and Lizzie Borden. Attorneys Bob Epstein, Marvin Zolt and Claude Ismael represented Rita Marley in negotiations.

"No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley" written by Rita Marley with Hettie Jones, was published by Hyperion in May of 2004.

CBS Films and Simon & Schuster/Atria Books Reach Publishing Agreements with Author Vince Flynn

CBS Films and Simon & Schuster/Atria Books -- both divisions of CBS Corporation -- have reached film and publishing agreements with best-selling author Vince Flynn for upcoming projects.

Flynn is the author of nine best-selling novels, eight of which feature the popular character, counter-terrorism operative Mitch Rapp. There are over 10 million copies of Flynn's books in print in the U.S., and with his most recent book, Protect and Defend, he joined the ranks of those select few authors who can immediately claim the Number One spot on hardcover bestseller lists in their first week on sale.

CBS Films has optioned the rights for Flynn's Mitch Rapp character with the intention of creating a character-based, action-thriller movie franchise. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who produced two of last summer's hits -- "Transformers" and Stephen King's "1408" -- and Nick Wechsler ("We Own The Night") are in negotiations to produce the films.

Flynn's new agreement with Atria and Simon & Schuster is a four book global publishing deal for all world rights, including translation and audio. The worldwide simultaneous English language publication of the first book in the agreement by Atria and Simon & Schuster companies in the U.K., Canada and Australia will take place in 2010. Flynn will be published under the direction of Atria Executive Vice President and Publisher Judith Curr, and Vice President and Executive Editorial Director Emily Bestler, who made the acquisition.

Sloan Harris and Ron Bernstein of ICM represented Flynn for the publishing and film agreements.

Scribner Acquires Next Novel by John le Carre

Scribner and Pocket Books have acquired U.S. publication and audio rights to John le Carré's next highly anticipated novel, A Most Wanted Man.

Nan Graham, Vice President, Editor-in-Chief of Scribner, who will edit the book, negotiated the agreement with attorney Michael Rudell for the novel which will be published in October 2008 simultaneously with le Carré's longtime British publisher Hodder & Stoughton and with Penguin Canada. The acquisition of A Most Wanted Man marks a return for le Carré to Scribner who published his runaway New York Times bestsellers Single & Single (1999) and The Constant Gardener (2000), which later became the award-winning film directed by Fernando Meirelles.

John le Carré is the author of twenty novels -- many of them number one bestsellers -- including The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, The Constant Gardener, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Little Drummer Girl,The Russia House, and The Tailor of Panama. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages and have been the basis for award-winning, format-bending films and television.

Zondervan Signs Agreement with Author Kate Gosselin

Zondervan, a world leader in Christian communications, has signed an exclusive agreement with Kate Gosselin to publish the amazing story of how she and her husband, Jon, survived the overwhelming odds and the emotional rollercoaster of birthing two sets of multiples, twins and sextuplets, in three years.

Multiple Blessings shares the gripping details of the couple's journey after learning they were expecting sextuplets, while raising twin toddlers. While strongly encouraged by doctors to consider selective reduction for the sake of both mother and babies, the couple believed each baby was a gift from God and accepted the challenge He was giving them. Kate also writes about the numerous challenges the couple faced, including the medical battle involved in carrying six babies to the critical 30-week mark, and the loss of Jon's job that forced the couple to rely on God completely. Overall, the book is an inspirational and moving account of how the Gosselins found everyday strength in spite of emotional, financial, social and physical exhaustion.

Multiple Blessings, which will be coauthored with Beth Carson, is expected to release nationwide as a hardcover in October 2008.

Website: www.zondervan.com/books