Hollywood Bidding War Rages in Atlanta

A bidding war is heating up for the film rights to K. F. Arnold's best-selling novel "Fulton County 404." HBO and Lions Gate Films have entered the fight along with Tyler Perry Studios and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment.

April 28, 2010
Hollywood Bidding War Rages in Atlanta
A bidding war is heating up for the film rights to Atlanta based novel "Fulton County 404"
with plans to spin the epic into a franchise. HBO and Lions Gate Films have drawn their checkbooks first in the fight brewing down South, while Tyler Perry Studios and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment also entered the fray this week. Originally published in 2007, the paperback bestseller has reached cult status on several social-networking portals including MySpace with more than six million views in four countries. The lead character, undercover
FBI agent Mike Drake, even has a Facebook following and a friends list which includes top Hollywood executives.

The novel first gained national attention when its fact-based storyline offered incriminating evidence of the exploitation of professional athletes like Michael Vick whose drug habits were used to bet against him in the 2004 NFL playoffs. The Atlanta political establishment even sought to stop the publication of the book when it correctly predicted the indictment of the Mayor's daughter who was, at the time, married to a known cocaine trafficker featured in the story.

Among the Atlanta music industry heavyweights lining up to support the project are Shanti Das, former VP of Marketing for Universal Records and two-time Grammy winner Aldrin Davis who has crafted multi-platinum hits for Mariah Carey and Kanye West. The project is also backed by Travis Payne, associate producer of "This Is It," music legend Michael Jackson's final concert documentary.
Atlanta native and author Kevin Arnold is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and an internationally renowned SEO & SEM expert. The sequel to "Fulton County 404" is due in U.S. and U.K. stores this August.

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