MEDIA RELEASE PR36921
DreamWorks Studios and Doubleday Acquire Rights to 'Robopocalypse'
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
DreamWorks Studios and Doubleday have acquired, in a pre-emptive deal, the rights to
Daniel H. Wilson's unpublished manuscript, "Robopocalypse," it was announced today by
Mark Sourian and Holly Bario, Co-Presidents of Production at the studio, and Jason
Kaufman, Executive Editor and Vice President, at Doubleday.
DreamWorks acquired the film rights from literary manager Justin Manask and is putting
the project into accelerated development. Kaufman acquired world publishing rights to
"Robopocalypse" from Laurie Fox at the Linda Chester Literary Agency and a tentative 2011
publication date has been set for the book.
"Robopocalypse" explores the fate of the human race following a robot uprising.
"Daniel H. Wilson's cautionary tale of man versus machine grabbed us from the very
beginning," said Mark Sourian. "Wilson's background in robotics and artificial intelligence
grounds his story with a frightening level of realism and he has created an exhilarating story
that we think audiences will really respond to."
"As a book editor, you're always looking for something unique and riveting to come
across the transom," said Jason Kaufman. "'Robopocalypse' is one of the most exciting and
original novels I've read in a very long time. Daniel H. Wilson is not only a brilliant robotics
engineer but also an extraordinary writing talent."
"Writing this novel is an incredible thrill, after spending years studying and thinking about
robotics," said Daniel H. Wilson. "It's an honor to work with DreamWorks Studios to bring
this vision to life, and I couldn't have hoped for a better editor than Jason Kaufman at
Doubleday. My hope is that the story we tell will make the robots of the future proud of us
humans."
Daniel H. Wilson's previous works include the 2005 book "How to Survive a Robot
Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion," which was optioned by
Paramount Pictures with Michael DeLuca attached to produce. His other books include
"Where's My Jetpack?: A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future That Never Arrived,"
"How To Build a Robot Army: Tips on Defending Planet Earth Against Aliens, Ninjas, and
Zombies," and "The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame: Muwahahaha!" His next book, titled "Bro-
Jitsu: The Martial Art of Sibling Smackdown," is scheduled for release next year. "Bro-Jitsu"
was optioned by Nickelodeon Movies and Wilson hired to pen the screenplay adaptation.
He has a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute in
Pittsburgh, PA, is a contributing editor to "Popular Mechanics," and hosted a show on the
History Channel called "The Works."
About DreamWorks Studios
DreamWorks Studios is a motion picture company led by Steven Spielberg and Stacey
Snider in partnership with The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The new company is
a continuation of DreamWorks Studios which was formed in 1994 by Steven Spielberg,
Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. The company expects to put into production 5 to 6
films per year.
About Doubleday
The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group is a division of Random House Inc., whose
parent company is Bertelsmann AG.
SOURCE: DreamWorks Studios
CONTACT: Kristin Stark of DreamWorks,
+1-818-733-9685,
kristin_stark@dreamworksstudios.com;
or Todd Doughty of Doubleday,
+1-212-782-9796,
tdoughty@randomhouse.com
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