Normally I wouldn’t consider this the most newsworthy item in the world, but for some reason I just couldn’t resist that headline. Anyway, according to the Hollywood Reporter, “Producers Steven Siebert and Christian Taylor have optioned the best-selling novel Hick by first-time author Andrea Portes.” It’s a coming-of-age story that “was recently named among the best adult books for high school students by the School Library Journal.” The most curious part of this story is the note that the producers “hope to mold the project with a lead character in the vein of Addie Loggins of Paper Moon and Iris Steensma in Taxi Driver. " Whoa, whoa, time out here. That’s a mold? Addie Loggins, as we recall, was a scrappy little Depression-era con gal. Iris Steensma was a Times Square hooker who blew Harvey Keitel. Might want to narrow down that casting call, folks.

While we’re here, let’s take a look at some other recent script sales of note:

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The calendar says it’s January 18th, which means another Fanboys release date has arrived without the movie itself actually showing up in theaters. The comedy about a group of Star Wars geeks sneaking their terminally ill friend into Skywalker Ranch for an early screening of The Phantom Menace was originally slated to hit screens last summer, but has been pushed back several times amid rumors and reshoots. The latest unconfirmed reports have the project being absorbed by the Amalgamated Apatow Conglomerate for an infusion of market-tested laughs. (According to this scuttlebutt, two versions of the film will be screened for test audiences — one with the terminally ill cancer patient and one without. In the latter, the kids presumably break into the Lucas compound just for shits and grins.)

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