Paramount Pictures has gained the rights to Tana French‘s mystery novel The Likeness, which will be adapted by TV writer and producer Stephanie Savage. According to Deadline, Savage will also produce the film with long time collaborator and Fake Empire partner Josh Schwartz.
The Likeness is the sequel to French‘s 2007 novel, In the Woods; which Paramount has also gained the rights to. Both novels center around a young female detective, Cassie Maddox, as she goes undercover to solve a murder in a prestigious college town. She strives to discover the truth, but finds her undercover world to be quite seductive.
Since forming Fake Empire at Paramount, Schwartz and Savage have set up five projects, including the Schwartz directed comedy Fun Size, to be released in 2012. The duo has previously worked on the teen dramas The O.C., Gossip Girl and Hart of Dixie. Savage‘s experience on these dramas will definitely aid her in adapting the script, but writing for a TV is obviously a different beast than writing a full movie script, so it will be interesting to see if she can transfer skills.
Do you think Savage is a good choice to adapt The Likeness?