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Disney Sets Jesse Wigutow To Script ‘Peter And The Starcatchers’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday May 17, 2012 @ 5:21pm PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Disney, Jesse Wigutow, Peter And The Starcatchers
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Disney has hired writer Jesse Wigutow to adapt the best-selling children’s novel, Peter and the Starcatchers, the 2004 book published by Disney’s Hyperion which gives the backstory for the iconic Peter Pan character.

Co-authored by Dave Barry and Ridley Pierson, the book has become a hot property, with the current Broadway adaptation having just nabbed nine Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. Peter and the Starcatchers is the first in a series of books by the authors, giving franchise potential to the project.

Wigutow’s adaptation of the Robert Ludlum thriller Osterman Weekend is in development with Brian Kirk directing at Summit, The Crow with F. Javier Gutierrez attached to direct at Relativity Media, and the Steve McQueen biopic at Cross Creek.

Wigutow is repped by UTA, attorney Warren Dern, and Benderspink.

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UPDATE: F. Javier Gutierrez To Helm Jesse Wigutow-Scripted ‘The Crow’ Remake

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday January 24, 2012 @ 3:40pm PSTTags: Jesse Wigutow, The Crow
Mike Fleming

UPDATE, 3:40 PM: They are moving quickly on The Crow. Relativity Media set F. Javier Gutierrez to direct the film. Gutierrez helmed Before The Fall.

EARLIER EXCLUSIVE, 2:24 PM: Days after Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company buried the hatchet … Read More »

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Universal And Captivate Target Next Robert Ludlum Thriller: ‘The Janson Directive’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday October 25, 2011 @ 5:10pm PDTTags: Ben Smith, Edward Norton, Jeffrey Weiner, Jeremy Renner, Jesse Wigutow, John Hlavin, Rachel Weisz, Robert Ludlum, Ron Howard, Simon Kinberg, The Bourne Legacy, Tony Gilroy, Universal Pictures
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: After getting the spinoff film The Bourne Legacy into production with Tony Gilroy directing his script and Jeremy Renner starring, Universal Pictures, Captivate Entertainment and Ludlum Entertainment are moving forward with another feature adaptation of a Robert Ludlum thriller novel. The studio has hired John Hlavin to script The Janson Directive, one of the last novels Ludlum wrote before he died in 2001. Ben Smith and Jeffrey Weiner are producing through Captivate, which has a first look Universal deal. The production company just signed with UTA.

Published a year after Ludlum’s death, The Janson Directive focuses on Paul Janson, an ex-Navy SEAL and former member of the covert government agency Consular Operations. In the book, he is haunted by memories of the Vietnam War and his mentor and commanding officer, whose sadistic side prompted him to turn Janson over to the enemy to be tortured. Janson escaped and provided the evidence of war crimes that caused his CO’s execution. Years later, Janson is a corporate security consultant who takes a job rescuing an important man, but when the job goes awry, Janson is targeted for a “beyond salvage” termination order. He has no choice but to follow the clues that lead him to a massive scandal. Read More »

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Summit’s Post-’Twilight’ Chapter To Be Underwritten By Book Adaptations

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday March 18, 2011 @ 8:13am PDTTags: Alex Proyas, Daniel H. Wilson, Deborah Kaplan, Doug Wick, Emma Watson, Erik Feig, Erin Morgenstern, Harry Elfont, Isaac Marion, Jesse Wigutow, John Gray, Kenneth Oppel, Logan Lerman, Lucy Fisher, Nicholas Hoult, Robert Ludlum, Stephen Chbosky, Stephenie Meyer, Summit Entertainment, Twilight Saga, Veronica Roth, Warren Ellis
Mike Fleming

The start of Summit Entertainment’s trajectory began when the mini-major convinced Stephenie Meyer to sell her Twilight Saga book series after she’d been left so frustrated by how Paramount Pictures let it languish. Was it a billion dollar lucky break? … Read More »

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Scribe For Ludlum’s ‘Osterman Weekend’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday September 3, 2010 @ 1:33pm PDTTags: Jesse Wigutow, Robert Ludlum, Robert Schwentke, Summit Entertainment, The Osterman Weekend
Mike Fleming

Summit Entertainment signed Jesse Wigutow to do a rewrite of The Osterman Weekend, the Robert Ludlum thriller. The picture was previously adapted into a 1983 Sam Peckinpah-directed film. Summit is trying to move fast to lock in Robert Schwentke, who is attracting buzz for his upcoming Bruce Willis-Helen Mirren starrer Red. Schwentke has competition for his next slot, as Universal wants him for RIPD with Ryan Reynolds. Wigutow just scripted an untitled Steve McQueen biopic, as well Divorcees for Universal and Snepp at HBO. Read More »

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