Variety is reporting that Universal Pictures has made a six-figure acquisition of How Starbucks Saved My Life based on a 102-page proposal and attached Tom Hanks to star and Gus Van Sant to direct.
The book the film will be based on is a memoir by Michael Gates Gill, a former J. Walter Thompson exec who found himself down and out when he was downsized out of a job.
In his 60s and in a personal tailspin because of an affair that ended his marriage, Gill saw his luck change when he entered a Starbucks and walked out with a job offer from the store’s manager, giving his life new purpose.
While the book is still not even written, the 102-page proposal slipped out and several studios apparently felt it had box-office gold potential.
