Awesomeness Films has acquired the rights to Aaron Starmer’s YA novel Spontaneous.
The book follows high school student Mara during her senior year when normal turns weird as students start spontaneously combusting. In addition to coping with typical problems for teenagers, Mara and her friends have to deal with the stress of possibly combusting at any moment.
Brian Robbins, Matt Kaplan, Brian Duffield and Nicki Cortese will produce for Awesomeness, with the latter two via their Jurassic Park shingle. Duffield, who will pen the adaptation, wrote the recently wrapped The Babysitter, directed by McG and starring Bella Thorne and Vine star Andrew Bachelor.
Spontaneous, which is set to published Aug. 30, was one of just five YA buzz-book picks at May’s Book Expo America and comes with the endorsement of The Fault in Our Stars author John Green, who blurbed about how it “skillfully welds sharp humor, deep loss and roaring escapades.”
Awesomeness Films’ adaptation of Lauren Oliver’s YA novel Before I Fall was picked up for distribution at Cannes by Open Road. Awesomeness also is adapting Oliver’s Replica. The YA-focused film division of DreamWorks Animation-owned AwesomenessTV released Smosh: The Movie last summer.
Starmer is repped by Paradigm and Dystel & Goderich Literary Management; Duffield is with Gersh, Circle of Confusion and Howard Abramson; and Cortese is handled by Todd Weinstein.
