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Exclusive: Stars Collective has optioned the film rights to Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys Who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization, the critically acclaimed work of non-fiction from Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller.

The company plans to develop, fully finance and produce a feature adaptation alongside Academy Award winner Donna Gigliotti. Yilong Liu will adapt the screenplay for the historical drama, with Stars Collective founder Peter Luo and Gigliotti to oversee the entire development and production process.

Published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2012, the book takes readers back to the twilight of the 19th century, when China — ravaged by poverty, population growth, and aggressive European armies — sent 120 young men to America to learn the secrets of Western innovation. Chosen by the Qing Dynasty, the boys attended some of New England’s finest schools, including Yale University, and were driven...

Shawn M. Warner’s novel Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor (pick up a copy Here) was published by Black Rose Writing back in November of 2022, and now Deadline reports that Stars Collective has secured the rights to explore film and TV adaptations of the story.

Deadline notes that Leigh Howard is described as “R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps meets Nancy Drew,” and tells the tale of a teenage girl who teams up with a ghost with multiple personalities to solve the mystery of her parents’ murder. Here’s more information: Leigh’s life has been ripped apart. Orphaned, she goes to live with incredibly wealthy relatives she never knew she had. Struggling to fit into her new world, she can’t let go of her grief. When the police tell her the investigation into her parents’ murder has hit a brick wall, she knows the only way...