Posted: Thurs., Aug. 12, 2004, 5:45pm PT

Col, Calley page 'Austen Book Club'

Producer also adapting 'Da Vinci' for helmer Howard

Sony Pictures Entertainment has optioned screen rights to Karen Joy Fowler's bestselling novel "The Jane Austen Book Club." Former Sony topper John Calley will produce.

Book centers around five women and a man who live in California and meet periodically to discuss Austen novels. Using Austen as the springboard, the book delves into the life of each club member.

Published by the Putnam imprint Madian Wood, "The Jane Austen Book Club" has been on the bestseller lists for 13 weeks and has been selling briskly in foreign territories.

Calley, always a fan of book adaptations when he was a film executive, is shepherding several as a producer. They include Dan Brown bestseller "The Da Vinci Code." He's producing that project with Imagine's Brian Grazer; Akiva Goldsman is scripting and Ron Howard is planning to direct at Sony.


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