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Stacey Abrams Scores TV Deal For New Book

   DailyWire.com
SELMA, AL - MARCH 01: Stacey Abrams speaks during the Martin & Coretta S. King Unity Breakfast on March 1, 2020 in Selma, Alabama. Presidential candidates and their supporters continue to campaign before voting starts on Super Tuesday, March 3. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Democrats who can’t get enough of Stacey Abrams will soon have something new to binge-watch.

After a competitive bidding war, Working Title, the production company responsible for such TV shows as “The Tudors” and films as “Notting Hill,” snapped up the rights to Abrams’ just-released political thriller, “While Justice Sleeps.”

The story follows Avery Keene, a young law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Howard Wynne, the liberal swing vote in a number of highly-contested rulings. After Wynne falls into a coma, Keene must work to unravel the conspiracy that put him there and stop his enemies from influencing the outcome of a major case.

While this is Abrams’ first novel published under her own name, the failed gubernatorial candidate has authored eight romances under the nom de plume, Selena Montgomery. According to NPR, Penguin Random House plans to re-release three of those bodice-rippers as a trilogy now that Abrams has been outed as the author.

The former member of Georgia’s House of Representatives seems to have aims other than making readers randy with “Justice Sleeps,” though. She said on Twitter she wrote the book to “explore what it means to have authority but no real power,” seeming to refer to the character of Justice Wynne, who is black.

Working Title Television co-chairman Tim Bevan told trade publication Deadline his company is thrilled not only to have won the opportunity to develop Abrams’ novel into a series, but also to have her join his team as an executive producer. “After weathering the competitive storm to secure Stacey’s novel, we are elated to have come out on top,” he said, adding, “This is one of those rare moments when the opportunity feels right, and we look forward to developing this thrilling project with the multihyphenate Abrams.”

Universal, Working Title’s parent company, joined Bevan’s praise, saying Abrams will bring a “level of authenticity, cultural representation and universal storytelling” to the series. “As the media landscape continues to flourish with infinite content, we are excited to embark on this journey with Stacey, who has played an instrumental role in the American narrative and now, television industry,” chairman Pearlena Igbokwe said.

Abrams is hardly the first politician to publish novels, but she’s one of the few to attract Hollywood’s attention. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, for example, has authored 15 novels, several of which were best-sellers — a feat Abrams can’t yet claim. Yet no major studio execs have ever knocked on his door to buy film or TV rights. Perhaps that’s because Gingrich doesn’t have a “D” by his name.

Talent agency UTA — the same company that dropped Gina Carano for expressing political opinions on social media — brokered the deal for Abrams.

Megan Basham (@megbasham) is the entertainment reporter for The Daily Wire. She’s a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic who was previously an entertainment editor and podcast co-host for World Magazine. 

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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