EXCLUSIVE: Following right behind Jurassic Park Rebirth‘s $318 million-plus global opening weekend, Sony, we hear, have hired writers Kaz Firpo and Ryan Firpo to adapt Eruption, the #1 New York Times bestseller from Michael Crichton and James Patterson.
At the same time, we understand that the project, which Sony won in a competitive auction last summer in a seven-figure deal, is now an open directing assignment with Free Solo filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi having exited. The project is in early development.
Eruption, which Crichton started writing before his passing in 2008 and which was completed by Patterson, follows a history-making volcano explosion that is about to wipe away the big island of Hawaii. However, a secret held for decades by the U.S. military is far more terrifying than any volcano. The two blockbuster authors have combined worldwide sales of more than 700 million books.
Eruption is being produced by Sherri Crichton, Patterson and Shane Salerno and The Story Factory. Sony’s Maia Eyre and Allie Broome are overseeing for the studio.
The Firpos are cousins who stormed into Hollywood when their original WW2 thriller Ruin topped The Black List. This led to kicking off Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Eternals, directed by Academy Award-winner Chloé Zhao which grossed north of $402M at the global box office. The Firpos are currently creating Butch & Sundance for Amazon, with Glen Powell and Regé-Jean Page starring and the Russo Brothers producing.
Michael Crichton continues to live on 17 years after his passing. Last June saw Eruption debuted at #1 on all bestseller lists (New York Times, Amazon, Apple, B&N) and become one of the bestselling books of the year. It was followed a month later with Twisters, a remake of Jan DeBont’s Twister (co-written and produced by Crichton), which debuted at #1 and become a major success grossing north of $372M. The Jurassic Park series is still going very strong more than thirty years later with Jurassic Park Rebirth grossing $147.8M at the five day Independence Day box office stateside, and north of $318M around the world. Crichton’s heavily researched, science-grounded novels have been catnip to filmmakers and studios. From Jurassic Park, ER and Twister to Westworld, The Andromeda Strain and Disclosure, Crichton’s work has grossed well north of $10 billion at the global box office.
The Firpos are represented by Untitled Entertainment, Yorn Levine et al., and CAA.
Michael Crichton and CrichtonSun are represented by The Story Factory.
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