Michael Bay Adapting New James Frey Book

Published by Jeff Leins on: June 29th, 2009

Fresh off the monster success of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Michael Bay is already working on his new money-making franchise.  The director earned $80 million for himself with the first toy adaptation and stands to make quite a bit more as the sequel racks up records at the box office.

On Friday, DreamWorks and Bay started to finalize a deal to acquire the rights to “I Am Number Four,” a science fiction novel and start of a six story series that doesn’t have a publisher.  Why doesn’t it have a publishing company when a major studio is buying the screen rights?  Because, according to the trades, the co-author is James Frey.

If you’re not familiar with Frey, he wrote “A Million Little Pieces.”  In 2005 his memoirs of drug addiction landed on Oprah’s Book Club, which instantly landed the novel at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for fifteen weeks straight.  In 2006, theSmokingGun.com exposed Frey’s fact fabrication and the author was confronted live on Oprah’s show for essentially profiting from lies.  Brad Pitt’s Plan B was negotiating for the film rights to “Little Pieces” until the scandal ruined the deal.

At first I wasn’t sure why DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg loved the idea of forming a six-figure pact with a guy who is a literary joke.  Then I remembered they made a deal with Michael Bay, who is basically a punchline in the world of cinema.

“I Am Number Four” is about nine aliens who disguise themselves as high school kids on Earth.  The fourth discovers an enemy alien race has discovered them after blowing up their home planet.  At least there will be more explosions.  Bay is set up as a producer with the possibility of directing.  Spielberg will executive produce.

Despite the studio scheduling Transformers 3 for 2011, Bay has said he wants to take a break to work on a smaller project.  The film is likely an adaptation of “Pain & Gain,” a true story of criminal bodybuilders published in the Miami New Times.