Universal Pictures has acquired rights to Susanna Hoffs’ novel “This Bird Has Flown,” setting a feature adaptation with Liza Chasin and Bruna Papandrea producing.
“This Bird Has Flown” is the debut novel for Hoffs, the singer and co-founder of pop-rock band The Bangles. Due April 4, 2023, from Little, Brown and Company, the book serves as a look behind the curtain of the music industry, following a 30-something musician working to survive.
Chasin and Papandrea will produce under their respective banners 3Dot Productions and Made Up Stories. Steve Hutensky and Sarah Harvey will also produce for Made Up Stories, while Margaret Chernin will produce for 3Dot Productions. Erik Baiers, senior executive vice president of production at Universal, will supervise the project.
“We knew we had to team up again when we read Susanna’s incredible book. She literally had us at hello! Her experience in the music biz and her deep love for big romantic movies made it so clear to us that we wanted to work with her on the adaptation,” Chasin and Papandrea said in a joint statement. “The icing on the cake is getting to do it with the brilliant folks at Universal.”
“As I was writing ‘This Bird Has Flown,’ songs provided the score; I visualized the action and unfolding dialogue as if I were watching a movie spring to life in my head. Getting to adapt the book for the screen is the cherry on top of this joyous experience,” Hoffs said in a statement. “I’m also a long-time fan of Liza’s and Bruna’s work. When my book-to-film agent, Sylvie Rabineau, shared a list of potential producers, I zeroed in on them, but they were listed separately… When they decided to collaborate on the film adaptation and then Erik Baiers at Universal connected with the novel, too, I knew we had our ultimate dream team!”
Hoffs is represented by The Gernert Company, WME and Behr Abramson Levy Johnson, L.L.P.. Chasin is represented by Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox, L.L.P., while Papandrea is represented by WME.