‘Twilight’ Team to Produce ‘Life After Life’ for Lionsgate

Kate Atkinson's bestselling novel will be adapted by "Mad Men," "The Bridge" writers

Lionsgate has acquired feature film rights to Kate Atkinson's bestselling novel "Life After Life," which will be produced by Temple Hill Entertainment ("The Twilight Saga"), the studio announced on Wednesday.

Screenwriters Semi Chellas and Esta Spalding will adapt the book. Temple Hill's creative executive Jaclyn Huntling championed the pitch for the novel.

Set against the backdrop of WWII, the story follows Ursula Todd, who discovers she has the extraordinary ability to start her life from scratch and finds that even the smallest of choices can have the biggest impact.

Published in April by Reagan Arthur Books, an imprint of Little, Brown, "Life After Life" is a New York Times bestseller and has been named to both Oprah and Martha Stewart’s summer reading lists. The well-reviewed novel is Amazon’s Editors #1 Pick of 2013 So Far and has been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013.

Chellas’ previous writing credits include Lionsgate’s award-winning series “Mad Men,” while Spalding’s recent writing credits include FX's “The Bridge.”

Lionsgate execs Erik Feig, Gillian Bohrer and James Myers will oversee the project for the studio, whose Robert Melnik negotiated the deal.

Atkinson is represented by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates in London. Chellas and Spalding are repped by UTA and by Lesley Harrison in Canada. Spalding is also repped by Jerry Kalajian at IPG, and Chellas is also represented by attorney Ken Richman.

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