American Zoetrope announced today that it has acquired the motion picture rights for Alysia Abbotts critically acclaimed memoir, “Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father” (W. W. Norton & Company). Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, The Bling Ring) and Roman Coppola (The Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom) will produce the film. Coppola and Andrew Durham will co-write the screenplay. Durham is a photographer who collaborates regularly with Ms. Coppola.
Fairyland is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of San Francisco’s vibrant cultural scene in the 1970s and ’80s, both before and after the AIDS epidemic, a crisis that would later claim the life of Abbott’s father, Steve Abbott, a widowed poet and gay activist.
“I love the book Fairyland; it’s a sweet and unique love story of a girl and her dad, both growing up together in 1970’s San Francisco. I think it will make an engaging and touching movie on a subject I’ve never seen before,” said Ms. Coppola.
Alysia Abbott said, “I’m delighted that Sofia Coppola and Zoetrope are going to create the film version of Fairyland. Sofia’s understanding of the feminine perspective and the artistic vision that she shares with Andrew Durham make them ideal partners to make this movie. I could not be happier.”
