Sizzling ebooks stimulate bigscreen interest

The dozens of producers who lost out in the "Fifty Shades of Grey" derby have plenty of opportunity to jump into the surging "mommy porn" genre, as the erotic e-book sensation has thrust similar titles up the bestseller charts -- and onto Hollywood's acquisitions radar.

The most imminent bigscreen deal looks to be for "The Marriage Bargain," No. 9 on the New York Times' combined print and e-book fiction list. Since it was released in February by Entangled Publishing's digital Indulgence imprint, the latest in a line of steamy romancers from Jennifer Probst has sold nearly half a million units and is still clicking along at a 5,000-copies-per-day clip.

Print publishing rights went up for auction last month, but despite hefty seven-figure offers from most major publishers, Entangled saw enough upside to self-distribute -- a change of heart that held up film-rights talks. Still, Hollywood interest in "The Marriage Bargain" remains high, and current talks are expected to yield a Gersh-repped rights deal in the coming days.

View the full article at Variety.com