We are excited to let you know that it has just been announced that James Patterson’s STEP ON A CRACK will be developed into a television series for the CBS network!
The series, “CRU”, will feature Detective Michael Bennett as its lead character; and the pilot episode is presently in development with Sony Television
Please see the attached article from Variety, which provides more information about this exciting development!
CBS taps Josh Berman for ‘CRU’
Series to feature Patterson’s ‘Crack’ character
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
“CSI” alum Josh Berman has hit the books for his new action drama, plucking a character straight out of a James Patterson novel.
CBS is developing Berman’s project “The CRU,” an action hour he’s co-creating with true-crime scribe Katherine Ramsland. Hourlong (a script with penalty) will center on Michael Bennett, the lead character in Patterson’s 2007 novel “Step on a Crack.”
Sony Pictures TV, where Berman is now based, is producing.
“Step on a Crack” centers on Bennett, a homicide detective who’s thrust into the role of a negotiating team leader when hostages are taken at the funeral of a former first lady. Patterson’s second book in the Michael Bennett franchise is due in February; Berman said the new novel will reference Bennett’s work with the CRU — the “Catastrophic Response Unit.”
Berman said he started reading “Step on a Crack” while developing “The CRU” and decided that Bennett would make a great lead character in his series.
“I realized it was an out-of-the-box idea, but I wanted to rewind Michael Bennett’s life, from before the book franchise began, and tell his stories within the world I created,” Berman said. “I took a risk and pitched the idea to James Patterson.”
Patterson bought into the idea for “The CRU.”
“I was really looking for a top showrunner who shares my sensibilities for big audience entertainment,” Patterson said.
Berman, who’s set to exec produce, is serving as a consulting producer on Fox’s “Bones.” His Lifetime pilot “Drop Dead Diva” is in pre-production. Besides his stint as exec producer on “CSI,” Berman also created and exec produced Fox’s “Vanished.”
Ramsland is a professor of forensics who has consulted with Berman on past projects.
Variety, Wednesday, 30 July 2008
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HEAVEN AND HELL: MY LIFE IN THE EAGLES, 1974-2001
by DON FELDER
(Click on cover for book detail)
2008-8-10 NY Times Bestseller Non-fiction #14
RIGHTS NEWS
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Dear Friends: We are proud to announce, as of this morning, that this book, which took six years to arrive on bookstore shelves will be #14 on the NY Times Best Seller list the week of August 10th after 12 weeks of steady sales. Orion in the UK had strong sales when they were the first to publish in the world last November. The German publisher is gearing up for their trade edition this fall. You can download or listen to a couple of recent radio interviews here (more press below): Felder was just a poor boy from Florida, but when he joined the Eagles he soared into the stratosphere. Alongside former bandmates Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, and Felder’s childhood friend Bernie Leadon, he sold tens of millions of records. Eagles: Their Greatest Hits: 1971-1975 is the bestselling album of all time. Don performed before countless adoring fans, and co-wrote the renowned hit ‘Hotel California’. His guitar playing ability lifted the band from mere popularity to iconic status. ‘Maybe there was too much talent. Maybe the personalities clashed with the egos. “Whatever the reason, there were always these explosive arguments going on while I sat silently in a corner. I never expected it to survive. Never once did I feel, ‘Hey, I got it made. This thing’s gonna last for years.’” Felder was wrong about that, but he was also right: the band split up in 1980, only to reunite for 1994’s mega-selling Hell Freezes Over album and tour. But tempers continued to flare, and in 2001, after twenty-seven contentious years in the Eagles, Felder was summarily fired by the ‘board of directors’: Frey and Henley. Lawsuits and counter-suits followed. With legal entanglements behind him, Felder’s book is finally catching the attention of readers as the true and tumultuous story behind the long road of the Eagles. Drugs, greed and endless acrimony had threatened to tear the band apart almost daily. In Heaven and Hell Don Felder finally breaks the Eagles’ decades of public silence. |