EXCLUSIVE Braxton Pope has acquired the rights to British author Will Self’s 1995 short story ‘A Rock of Crack as Big as the Ritz," TheWrap has learned.
Paul Cuschieri ("Lords of Florence," "Speed of Light") will adapt the book, and Ace Norton, who has directed music videos for Death Cab for Cutie and LCD Soundsystem, will direct the feature film.
"Rock of Crack" first appeared in Self's short story collection “Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys." The title, a play on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novella “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” centers on two brothers who discover a boulder-sized rock of crack outside their home. As "Rock of Crack" unfolds, one boy begins to sell the drug and the other starts to use it.
New York Times book critic Michiko Kakatuni said the story ''attests to Mr. Self's ability to render even the most bizarre, ‘Twilight Zone’-like events with convincing verisimilitude while enthralling — and often horrifying — the reader with his scathing, Swiftean humor.”
Braxton Pope (“Shrink”) will produce the feature and Lisa Todd and Jason Benesh of Dancing Orange Productions will executive produce. Next up for Pope is the feature “Bait” from a script by Bret Easton Ellis to be directed by Jonas Pate.
“Will Self is a literary superstar whose imagination knows no bounds and this story will be the foundation for a wildly original feature,” Pope said in a statement.
The deal was negotiated by Paul Almond of Fischbach, Perlstein, Leiberman and Almond on behalf of the producers and Marti Blumenthal of Amerpsand on behalf of Will Self.
Ace Norton is represented by Jay Baker and Todd Feldman of Creative Artists Agency and is managed by Darin Friedman of Management 360.
Paul Cuschieri is managed by Naren Desai of Brillstein Entertainment Partners and is represented by David Krintzman of Barnes Morris Klein and Yorn.