The adaptation of Michael Ausiello’s acclaimed memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies has found a home at Focus Features. Deadline reports that the studio has come out on top of a competitive race to acquire the rights, and now the project is ready to move forward.
Ausiello, who’s the President and Editorial Director of TVLine, wrote a bittersweet tragicomedy that chronicled his years-long relationship with photographer Kit Cowan, framed around the 11-month span of time from his cancer diagnosis to his eventual death.
Filmmaker Michael Showalter will direct the adaptation, which will star Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory), who initially optioned the book last year as a starring vehicle for himself. Showalter will also produce with Jordana Mollick through his Semi-Formal Productions company. David Marshall Grant and Dan Savage are writing the screenplay, while Ausiello himself with serve as an executive producer alongside Alison Mo Massey.
Showalter directed last year’s unconventional romantic comedy The Big Sick for Amazon, which started in limited theatrical release, but ended up doing better than expected at the box office, thanks to word-of-mouth and social media praise. It eventually earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay from real-life couple Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, who also starred as himself.
Both screenwriters have a history with ABC series. Grant is currently an executive producer of the drama A Million Little Things, while Savage served the same role for the sitcom The Real O’Neals. Savage is also a renowned sex columnist and activist for LGBTQ rights.
