George, Brad and Leonardo all want the rights to this book

This is interesting

Deadline is reporting that Imperative Entertainment won and paid $5 million for the rights to Killers of the Flower Moon. George, Leo, Brad and everyone else in between lost out ....

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George Clooney, Brad Pitt, J.J. Abrams lose bidding war for rights to Oklahoma-set mystery 'Killers of the Flower Moon'

David Grann's upcoming book "Killers of the Flower Moon," about a 1920s Oklahoma murder mystery, set off a fierce Hollywood bidding war. Photo provided
David Grann's upcoming book "Killers of the Flower Moon," about a 1920s Oklahoma murder mystery, set off a fierce Hollywood bidding war. Photo provided
Hollywood has been involved in a high-dollar bidding war over the film rights to an upcoming book based on an Oklahoma murder case.

According to Deadline, Imperative Entertainment paid $5 million and won the rights to make a movie out of David Grann’s book "Killers Of The Flower Moon: An American Crime And The Birth Of The FBI," which Doubleday is publishing next spring.

Imperative partners Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas will be producing. Friedkin is a Houston-based entrepreneur who made his fortune through automotive and other ventures. He funds Imperative, which was founded in 2014 and is run by Friedkin, Thomas, "Heroes" creator Tim Kring and Lauren Sanchez.

The latest book from Grann, a writer for The New Yorker who also penned the best-selling book "The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon," "Killers of the Flower Moon" is a murder mystery set in 1920s Oklahoma, where the Osage Indians were granted revenue rights to oil discovered under their lands that was harvested by oil companies. Suddenly, they begin to get murdered as did those trying to investigate. It came down to the newly created Bureau of Investigation to overcome the corrupting influences from oil money and politics to solve the murder mystery, one that would bring the FBI to prominence.

“'The Lost City Of Z' is the only book that I’ve ever read cover to cover, then immediately picked up and read again,” Friedkin told Deadline. “With 'Killers Of The Flower Moon,' David has once again crafted a unique and compelling story and I’m honored that he has allowed us to bring it to life on screen.”

Deadline reports that Imperative outbid several other high-profile suitors in "one of the biggest and wildest book rights auction in memory."

A rival bid teamed Paramount with Bad Robot’s JJ Abrams and Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin (coming off "Spotlight" and "The Revenant"), with newly crowned Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star and develop it. Deadline reports that while Amy Pascal and George Clooney were bidding for Sony and New Regency with Shawnee-born superstar Brad Pitt’s Plan B, Clooney and Pitt were pooling their resources. Plus, Scott Stuber had linked up with Netflix, and there were indie financiers in the mix, with AG Capital’s Alex Garcia and PalmStar Media’s Kevin Frakes mentioned as players.

"The Killers of the Flower Moon" isn't Grann's only book tapped for a movie adaptation. James Gray is writing and directing the film version of the period mystery "The Lost City Of Z" starring Charlie Hunnam, Tom Holland and Sienna Mille. Deadline reports that Grann’s other optioned works include his article "A Murder Foretold," which is being developed into the film "A Foreigner" by Paramount and FilmRites with Oscar-winning "Argo" writer Chris Terrio penning the script and "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon set to helm. The book will be published in the fall by Doubleday/Penguin Random House.

-BAM