Amid an intense, high-value bidding war, Amazon MGM has landed the film rights to The last lettera romantic drama novel by Fourth wing author Rebecca Yarros.
Journalist-turned-screenwriter Anna Klassen is in final talks to write the adaptation, with Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer and Jeb Brody in talks to produce it.
Yarros is a phenomenon in the book world, bringing with her the genre of romance into the mainstream. in the empyrean book series, which started with the years 2023 Fourth wing and this has now sold over 12 million copies. Letterwhich is not a romantic fantasy but rather a pure romance, is one of his first books and was re-released this year, reaching best-seller status and reviving Hollywood’s interest.
Letter was a weeper (oh, what a weeper!) about an army veteran who, fulfilling his promise to a friend and fallen soldier, travels to a bucolic Colorado town to help take care of his buddy’s sister and her two children. But oh, the drama. The man harbors a heartbreaking secret, one of the children falls ill with cancer, and the wife feels she can’t trust this dark, brooding, beautiful man (oh, who also comes with a loyal dog).
The novel lit up BookTok and book clubs this year for the story’s almost too intense emotions. That hasn’t stopped studios and producers from launching a hot pursuit. Five companies took the plunge, with Amazon, Netflix and Paramount, the latter of which posted a strong showing last weekend in the romantic drama space. Regret youmaking muscular offers with skyrocketing prices and even clocks to respond.
Ultimately, Amazon came out on top with an option in the $200,000 range and a potential purchase price of $2 million and significant backends, according to multiple sources. Yarros will also serve as executive producer through her recently formed company, Full Measures, named after her first book.
That’s an impressive deal for something that’s intended to be a mid-budget adult drama. But it speaks to the appetite for something that gives vibes of The notebookthe hit romantic drama starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, or Dear Johnwith Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, and the growing power of Yarros.
This isn’t the author’s first time participating in the Hollywood rodeo. Fourth wing is in development at Amazon as a television adaptation with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Kilter Films, and Premeditated Productions.
Klassen is becoming a go-to scribe in the romance field. She adapted Anna Todd’s next novel The last sunrisecurrently in production at Amazon with Maia Reficco and Eva Longoria starring. A former journalist who wrote for News week, The daily beast And Hustleshe launched her career as a screenwriter with her specialty, When lightning strikeswhich was centered on Harry Potter author JK Rowling and landed at the top of the 2017 blacklist.
Brody and Joyce Choi will oversee the project at Imagine, the prolific banner that recently headlined Luca Guadagnino After the hunt and that of Ron Howard Eden.
Yarros is replaced by Untitled and Weintraub Tobin. Klassen is repped by WME, Untitled and Myman Greenspan.
