Three Debut Novelists Score Movie Deals

By Maryann Yin 

Writers Veronica Roth, Marie Lu and Erin Morgenstern all landed movie deals for their debut novels.

Roth released Divergent in May; Morgenstern’s book The Night Circus is due out in September and Lu’s title Legend will hit bookstores in late November. Lu sold her book’s movie rights to CBS Films. Summit Entertainment snatched up the rights to Roth and Morgenstern’s novels.

According to Variety, Harry Potter film producer David Heyman is interested in The Night Circus film. Deadline reported that Twilight film producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey are looking at Legend. All three authors made an appearance at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

With the Harry Potter and Twilight film franchises wrapping up, movie studios are hunting for the next potential blockbuster series. But when these two film franchises opened, both book series had already established a massive fan following. Do you think Morgenstern or Lu can build the same kind following?