So Yesterday, the Movie

Posted on by scott

The contracts for the So Yesterday movie option are finally signed!

Phew. That took a while.

Now, a quick note about options: This doesn’t mean that the movie will be made! It just means that a production company has paid me for the exclusive right to make a film. So do not send your acting resumes to me yet. (Or ever. Because like, why would you send them to me?) Still, it does get us one step closer.

Now that the contracts are signed, I can finally tell you who the producers are. But first:

You may remember a long-ago contest where I promised glorious prizes to anyone who could guess the book and the producer. Well, nobody got both exactly right, but Corn on the Cob almost got one of the producers correctly, which I didn’t think would happen at all.

Corn wrote: “Okay my second guess is a documentary type thing of the Uglies/Pretties book by Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 911, Bowling for Columbine).”

How random was that guess?

Okay, so it wasn’t Uglies, and it’s not Michael Moore. But it is one of the other producers of Fahrenheit and Columbine, a guy called Jim Czarnecki. Two decades ago, he also worked as an assistant director on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, to which I can only say: “Dude, we’re not worthy.”

On So Yesterday he’ll be working with Maria Gallagher. Maria is the author of the Stinky Boys Club books, and has produced a lot of advertising and a Madonna video. Actually, both Maria and Jim come from the world of slick, high-end advertising satirized in So Yesterday.

Back in November, I met with them to talk about how to make So Yesterday a movie, and I think they and their ideas are very cool. They want to render the book’s info-dumps in visual form, and put the critique of advertising and marketing onto the screen, somehow. It’s going to be exciting to see how it all comes out.

So Corn in the Cob, email me about receiving your fabulous prize. You didn’t get it exactly right, but I didn’t think anyone would get even remotely close. So color me w00t! (And wish Maria and Jim luck.)

This just in! Justine’s Magic or Madness has been nominated for the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards Ethel Turner Prize!

Read about it here.

83 thoughts on “So Yesterday, the Movie”

  6. They’ve already got Specials listed on eBay. I’m wondering- does it hurt the author to buy one of these advance copies ahead of time?

  9. Hey, guys. I just got back from the Australian national sf con in Brisbane. (Will be posting about thaht soon.)

    For those of you thinking about casting, I list the characters in So Yesterday in the second half of this post. Please note that Sarah Silverman was my very first choice as Mandy. And Shia LaBeouf could be cool, too.

    ARCs (advanced readers copies) are usually sent out to reviewers, teachers, and bookstore owners to drum up interest in a book. Of course, some people sell them on eBay. I guess that this costs me some (incredibly small) amount of money, and is (in some ridiculously strict sense) illegal, but in the long run I’d rather have people interested enough to try to get my books ahead of time than not.

    Despite the dire warnings of recording industry propoganda, this much is true: The artist’s great enemy is not piracy, but indifference.

    So please, if you can find an ARC, snag it. Pay me back by telling ALL your friends (and librarians) how much you liked the book.

  10. What Scott said!

    You should also know that ARCs always have heaps more typoes and other mistakes then the final edition. And they tend to fall apart—sometimes after one reading.

    On the other hand some of the rarest books of all are ARCs. So sometimes they can wind up becoming very valuable.

    PS: Thanks so much for all the congratulations! I’m stoked!

  11. congratulations Justine! (although i’m a little late)

    i don’t think that amber tamblyn would be a very good jen. but Shia Labeouf would be an ok hunter.but i think he has curly hair, and i always thought hunter had straight.

  12. right, jake thomas has the hair type and basic appearance i’d imagined for Hunter. I think he’d make a pretty great Hunter. he’s just the right age too. so that would be really cool:)

  14. yes he is the lizzie mcguire kid. but i think he does fit the visual aspect of hunter. i dont know about the attitue-ish part tho. he always seemed to do comic stuff – not very hunter-like.

  15. yup, the lizzie mcquire kid, he was born in 1980 i think, so he’s about 16-17 now. and amy. he was also in an episode of “without a trace” as a depressed kid. a very serious roll and he was excellent. If he can give that type of performance for “so yesterday” he would be great. Yup, i do believe he would be a good Hunter:)

  18. “So please, if you can find an ARC, snag it. Pay me back by telling ALL your friends (and librarians) how much you liked the book.”

    Yessss!!! 🙂 I just bought it. And you should know I’ve already got two people reading your books. Annnd, b/c I’m one of those insane people who likes her series to all look the same, I’m buying Specials again when it comes out in paperback. 😀 😀

    “You should also know that ARCs always have heaps more typoes and other mistakes then the final edition. And they tend to fall apart—sometimes after one reading.”

    Yeah, I’ve found a few advanced copies in used bookstores before and they can be pretty crazy. But if the book’s good enough, I can usually deal with the typos. 😀

  20. I’m buying Peeps when it comes out in paperback. My hardcover copy exploded. Well, got wet, but ya know.

  22. Belinda, if he was born in 1980 he would be 26 by now.
    Just a little math error.
    Jake Thomas was in AI – Artificial Inteligence. But that was when he was young. Has anyone seen it?

  26. why are we all talking about jake thomas anyway! eww! so now scott has a myspace fan-thingy. i might just join…

  28. Scott if you put jake thomas in that movie it would be horrible please hell no can he be in this movie. Amber TAmblyn would be a perfect Jen though she is a really good actress and i know she can pull of the inovater thing. she was in an episode recently of the new twilight zones and was a total punky with her definite own twist to it she could even make a uniform look good. And Sarah Silverman looks just like what i imagened mandy to be like. And HELLLLLLLL NO to Shia L. he is a good actor but no way could he pull off hunter (sorry shia no way can i diss u for holes or even stevens) Also Jess why were you talking about HP it is not exactly the same at all.

  29. another somewhat good Jen (this is ONLY a MAYBE) alexis bledel she might not pull off the inovater thing but it was only the smallest .00000000000000000000000000000000000000001/2
    of an idea.

  31. See, this book isn’t a million pages like HP, so cuts won’t be as nessicary. If anything, I picture them adding stuff and scenes ‘n stuff. idk. So, question tho, they wouldn’t show the whole seizure cartoon would they? I mean, it wouldn’t give us seizures, but then we’d be all, “that wouldn’t give anyone seizures” again, w/e. this seems like a a cool movie idea. they could SO go places with it man.

    P.S. I like amber tamblyn alot. her dad was in westside story and 7 brides for 7 brothers. I think that’s sweet. and also, i’d like to see hilary duff with her head shaved. idk who’d play hunter.

    P.P.S.I haven’t read Peeps yet, but is it just me, but i keep thinking of those gross sweet marshmellow chicks. I’m not dissing the title of the book ’cause i only just thought of this. the cover looks scarey and stuff. not easter-y

  32. So are they really making a movie of So Yesterday? I made my friend read it, and its now his favorite book!! Were you serious when you said Shia playing Hunter?or are you completely not sure about anything….

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