'Pals' gets pen pal

'Parents' scribe Herzfeld inked for Crystal pic

By CHARLES LYONS, DANA HARRIS

Warner Bros.-based Castle Rock Entertainment has tapped scribe Jim Herzfeld ("Meet the Parents") to pen "Pals" for Billy Crystal, who is attached to star in and produce the pic.

Samantha Sprecher, veep of development, brought the project into Castle Rock.

Herzfeld will be paid a high-six figures against a low-seven figure sum.

"I am happy to be working with Jim," said Crsytal. "I thought ‘Meet the Parents’ was a terrific script. Jim has the unique comedic voice that’s perfectly suited for this dark and funny piece."

Based on an idea by Mark Furey, story centers on a prison inmate who is matched with an upstanding family as part of a prison community work program; the inmate finds that the family is more corrupt than he ever was.

Crystal is currently prepping to helm "61*" for HBO. He last worked with Castle Rock on the Michael Lehmann-helmed pic "My Giant."

Outside of "Meet the Parents," which Herzfeld co-wrote with John Hamburg, Herzfled penned "The Big Ticket," currently in development at DreamWorks.

Jim’s deal was negotiated by Todd Feldman at ICM along with attorney Patti Felker at Nelson, Guggenheim, Felker and Levine. Crystal is repped by the William Morris Agency and MBST.