Fox 2000, “Hunger Games” team to adapt “Suspect” bestseller

PanARMENIAN.Net - Fox 2000 has optioned the rights to Robert Crais' best-selling novel 2013 novel Suspect for an adaptation to produced by Nina Jacobson, the producers behind the The Hunger Games franchise, and her Color Force partner Brad Simpson, The Hollywood Reporter.

David DiGilio, who wrote the Paul Walker Disney movie Eight Below, about dogs left behind in Antarctica, is attached to write the script.

Suspect tells the story of rookie Los Angeles police officer Scott James, who loses his partner in a shooting and, in a form of therapy, is tasked with taking care of Maggie, a German Shepherd who lost her Marine handler in Afghanistan and who now suffers from PTSD. The novel follows the growing relationship between the policeman and the dog as they help each other heal and chase his partner's killers.

The book mines the LA-based Crais' knowledge of the city of to give the novel a true local flavor and pulls off the difficult trick of turning Maggie into a full-fledged character. The paperback edition of Suspect publishes on Jan. 7.

The sale represents a rare foray into film for Crais, whose nineteen novels have more than 40 million copies in print. He has steadfastly refused offers for the film rights to his best-selling Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series over the years and turned down earlier offers for Suspect.

Jacobson and Unkeless are credited with discovering The Hunger Games and developing it for the big-screen. Catching Fire, the second installment of the franchise released by Lionsgate, has made over $729 million woldwide since it debuted in November.

Crais, who moved to California from Louisiana in 1976, started as a television writer, scripting episodes for Cagney & Lacey, L.A. Law and Miami Vice. He was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Hill Street Blues.