Fox 2000 and Chernin Entertainment are teaming up to adapt S.T.A.G.S., the debut novel by M.A. Bennett.
Described as being a tonal mix of Battle Royale and Get Out (part Hunger Games, part Looking for Alaska is another comparison used to pitch the tome), the story is set at exclusive St. Aidan the Great’s School (S.T.A.G.S.) in England and follows a first-year boarding school student named Greer.
Greer is invited for a weekend getaway by the school’s elite and most popular group, known as the Medievals. The invite promises a weekend of bloodsports, but what Greer and the other invitees don’t know is that the Medievals just might be hunting, shooting and fishing them over the next three days.
Hot Key Books, an imprint of British publisher Bonnier Zaffre, will release S.T.A.G.S. in the U.K. in August, having picked it up in April after only reading the first three chapters. Little is known about the author.
Delacorte Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, will publish the novel in the U.S. in 2018. Deals are currently being negotiated for other countries.
Elizabeth Gabler and Marisa Paiva will oversee the film project for Fox 2000.
Katie Langridge at Knight Hall Agency Ltd. negotiated the deal on behalf of Teresa Chris, who reps Bennett.
Chernin, the production shingle behind the hit Hidden Figures, has the Amy Schumer-Goldie Hawn comedy Snatched set to open Friday.
