Ellis a 'Follower' for HBO, Lionsgate

Author to adapt Starr's novel for series

By MICHAEL FLEMING

HBO and Lionsgate TV have set Bret Easton Ellis to pen a series adaptation of "The Follower," the stalker tale by crime novelist Jason Starr.

The drama is described as a dark social satire chronicling the dating lives of a group of twentysomething New Yorkers as seen through the eyes of a stalker. It was published by St. Martin's Press late last year.

"The Follower" will be exec produced by "Paranormal Activity" producer Jason Blum, Vertigo Films partners Doug Davison and Roy Lee and Media Talent Group's Geyer Kosinski. Vertigo's Gabriel Mason is co-exec producer, and Steven Schneider is associate producer.

Ellis, the author of "Less Than Zero" and "American Psycho," just made a deal to team with Gus Van Sant on a script that tells the story of New York artists and lovers Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake, who made a suicide pact and ended their lives within days of each other in 2007. The book was sold by Rabineau Wachter Sanford & Harris.