By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Christopher Landon’s first feature and others are getting the adaptation treatment.
The team at Encyclopocalypse Publications gave us the word that they’ll be issuing a series of novelizations developed in partnership with Strike Back Studios. Up first is BURNING PALMS (pictured above), the satirical thriller that marked the feature directorial debut of Christopher Landon, who went on to helm the HAPPY DEATH DAY films, FREAKY and others. The book, written by Jess Hagemann, will be released August 11 and is currently available for pre-order as a mass market paperback and an e-book. According to the publisher, “The BURNING PALMS novelization expands upon Christopher Landon’s provocative 2010 feature, diving deeper into the inner lives of its interconnected cast while preserving the film’s signature blend of dark comedy, social satire, and uncomfortable truths.”
The synopsis: “Los Angeles is a city built on desire, and on the lies people tell themselves to survive it. In BURNING PALMS, five interlocking stories unfold across the sun-bleached sprawl of the city, each one probing a different taboo, each one drifting deeper into moral freefall. A father’s bond with his precocious daughter curdles into something unrecognizable. A woman’s romantic devotion is dismantled by a single request in the bedroom. A privileged couple imports a human life as casually as a fashion accessory. A group of unsupervised boys invents games no one should play. A lonely woman confronts her attacker, and asks for something unthinkable.”
“Christopher Landon is a creative powerhouse and BURNING PALMS already had, when it came out in 2010, the hallmarks of the visionary he’d prove himself to be,” Hagemann says. “The line between horror and comedy/satire is a tough one to skate, but Landon always makes it look easy. He’s a genuinely thoughtful person, too! It was so much fun to adapt BURNING PALMS for the page, and I’m grateful he and Mark Miller trusted me with this project.”
“This collaboration has been a long time coming,” says Encyclopocalypse president Mark Alan Miller. “I love working with everyone involved. Jess is insanely talented, and I’m thrilled we were able to sign her for the BURNING PALMS novelization. Like the movie, the book is a wild ride. And I’m grateful to Noor Ahmed and Strike Back Studios for letting us play in their sandbox.”
The book’s release will be supported by a series of special BURNING PALMS screening events in the greater Houston area, with Hagemann attending; details will be revealed soon. Also part of the Encyclopocalypse/Strick Back lineup are novelizations of OLD HENRY, the acclaimed Western thriller starring Tim Blake Nelson; THE UNITED STATES OF INSANITY, the documentary chronicling Insane Clown Posse’s battle with the FBI; and SPIRIT HALLOWEEN: THE MOVIE, the family-friendly Halloween adventure inspired by the iconic seasonal retailer.
Says Strike Back president Noor Ahmed, “We are always looking for ways to get our films in front of a new audience and loved the idea of doing a novelization of some. Having worked with Mark previously on other film projects, I knew he would be the perfect collaborator for this first rollout of books.”
