H'wood's despot measures
Saddam's writings pose some novel concepts for showbiz
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The contents of Saddam's new novel are a mystery, but if the book's anything like his previous tomes, expect a torrid romance or a political parable in which a strong, beautiful heroine (Iraq) is raped by a hooded stranger (America).
Not exactly nuanced, but even so, Saddam's novels have been bestsellers in his country, with sales in the millions. One was even made into a 20-part TV series for an Iraqi satellite channel.
So, patriotism aside, shouldn't HBO at least be considering the possibility of optioning "Men in the City," an early Saddam novel? It would so naturally follow in the footsteps of Sarah Jessica Parker's Manolo Blahniks. All it would take is a little gender/ethnic switcheroo -- picture sheiks living in Perry Street lofts, throwing hukka parties and laughing at the American trendinistas lining up for cosmopolitans at Pastis.
As for His Majesty's other books, "Zabibah and the King" is an obvious Disney crossover. Surely execs there have been discussing a "Lion King" meets "Aladdin" project for years.
And don't forget "Be Gone, Demons!," the manuscript of which was found in the Iraqi Ministry of Culture after the fall of Baghdad. Could it be the next prequel to "The Exorcist"?
If Saddam's novels don't have agents reaching for their BlackBerrys quite yet, he's also penned some poetry and is reportedly working on some catchy verse about George Bush (pere or fils, we don't know).
The point is the guy's more prolific than most Hollywood scribes, he won't whine about rewrites (what else has he got to do with his time?), and already has enough material for multiple franchises.
Let the bidding begin!
