Studio 8 acquires “Every Man a Menace” crime thriller

PanARMENIAN.Net - Studio 8 has preemptively acquired the rights to Patrick Hoffman's upcoming novel Every Man a Menace, The Hollywood Reporter said.

The crime thriller, which will hit shelves in October, centers on an ecstasy smuggling ring. As the biggest shipment of MDMA hits the U.S., a global mix of criminal opportunists scramble to leverage the chaos, eliminate their competition and make the big score. The globe-trotting thriller, which stretches from Bangkok to Miami to San Francisco, is said to have elements of Traffic and Sicario, with a dash of dark humor from a Coen Brothers movie and the twists of The Usual Suspects.

Tanya Seghatchian, who has a first-look deal with Studio 8, will produce. Chris Goldberg, who brought the book to the studio, will oversee the project. Rights were handled by UTA on behalf of literary agency Charlotte Sheedy Literary.

Hoffman, who works as a private investigator in Brooklyn, is a rising star in the crime-fiction world after the 2014 debut of his first novel The White Van. The book was a finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and was named a Wall Street Journal best book of the year. Every Man a Menace will be Hoffman's second novel and will be published in October via Atlantic Monthly Press. He is repped by UTA and Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency.

Studio 8, funded in partnership with the Chinese investment management firm Fosun Group and with Sony Pictures Entertainment, which will distribute up to six films worldwide annually. The company’s initial film projects include Solutrean and Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (set to hit theaters in November) in partnership with Sony’s TriStar Pictures.