Sony in Talks to Adapt Richard Price’s Crime Fiction Book (Exclusive)

Sony Talks Adapt Richard Price's Crime — Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Producers Guild

Sony is in negotiations to option Richard Price’s upcoming crime novel The Whites, with Scott Rudin set to produce.

For Price, The Whites is his debut under the pen name Harry Brandt. The book is slated to hit stores Feb. 17, 2015, via Henry Holt.

The novel harkens back to some of Price’s signature themes and settings, including cops, criminals and New York City. The story follows detective Billy Graves, whose tainted past comes back to haunt him when he takes on a harrowing case during one of his graveyard shifts.

Michael De Luca will oversee the project for Sony, which had no comment on the deal.

Price’s earlier works include 1972’s The Wanderers, which was adapted into a film in 1979; 1992’s Clockers, which was made into a film directed by Spike Lee; and 2008’s Lush Life.

Price also has written the screenplays for several films, including 1989’s Sea of Love, 1996’s Ransom and 1986’s The Color of Money, for which he nabbed an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay. He also wrote several episodes of HBO’s hit series The Wire.

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