• WSJ, Friday, November 4, 2005 11:15 AM

Random House Goes Hollywood

In an effort to optimize the value of its literary acquisitions, Random House has signed a deal with Focus Features to create films based on the publisher's titles. Focus, a unit of NBC Universal, will codevelop, coproduce, and cofinance the pictures, according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal reportedly gives Focus access to the back titles of Random's worldwide imprints, as well as books in current circulation. Under the terms of the deal, the film company--its recent releases include "The Motorcycle Diaries" and "The Constant Gardener"--will not have automatic rights to every book from Random House, as the publisher will still negotiate subrights separately for every title it buys. Of course this is not the first time a U.S. publisher has attempted to create a symbiotic relationship with the film industry. Earlier, in an attempt that ultimately failed, Miramax Books, under the direction of Tina Brown, was supposed to funnel hit titles to Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Manhattan-based film company. In the end, there was little to show for the experiment, and Brown left the company.

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