John Stamos, Katelyn Tarver cast in pilot based on Jessica Simpson's memoir
Is it chicken or is it tuna? Amazon Freevee hopes to find out with Open Book, based on Jessica Simpson's memoir of the same name.
The streamer has ordered a half-hour scripted pilot of the show, and tapped Ballers star Katelyn Tarver as Sadie Sparrow, a young singer based on Simpson, and John Stamos as Butch, who is described as "once a young and pretty singer-songwriter on top of the world, Butch Thorn went through one-too-many divorces and far too many drinks, eventually securing his own fall from grace." He is attracted to Sadie and has an immediate connection with her, which complicates things when he realizes he's been tasked to write songs with her.
Open Book, which is described as "a propulsive, music-soaked coming-of-age story," will follow Sparrow's rise in her mid-twenties from ingenue to mogul. Per the official logline, it will follow her family, friends, and lovers and touches "on themes of love, friendship, divorce, family and sisterhood, relationships, soul connections, Hollywood and the music business" as it "follows Sadie's unexpected journey as she ultimately comes to embrace herself and the fact that her heart inevitably wants what it wants at every stage of life."
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Behind the lens, Tom Kapinos (Lucifer) will serve as writer and executive producer while Adam Bernstein (Better Call Saul) will serve as director and executive producer. Other executive producers include Simpson, Patrick Moran, Laren Auslander and Lacy Lynch. PKM Prods. will also executive produce with Amazon Studios.
Published by Dey Street Books, Simpson's Open Book sold more than half a million copies in 14 weeks in 121 countries and was the highest grossing memoir from a female entertainment personality in history at its debut. Simpson inked a broad, multi-media rights deal with Amazon in 2020, which also included a series of short stories published by Amazon Original Stories, the next of which will debut in February 2023 titled Movie Star: They Always Say They're Single - A True Story.
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