Luke Rhinehart novels bound for big screen

Thu Oct 15, 2009 4:05am EDT

By Stuart Kemp

LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) — Two novels by Luke Rhinehart, cult author of “The Dice Man,” are being turned into feature films.

Producer Andrew Bonner-Walter plans to produce movies based on “Naked Before the World” and “The Search for the Dice Man.”

Neil Corbould will direct “Naked,” from Rhinehart's adaptation of his novel, under the U.K. banner A Random Production. The project marks Corbould's directorial debut after establishing himself as a visual effects specialist.

The script is billed as a comic opera set in the late 1960s. “Naked” aims to bring to life the culture of the hippies versus the establishment and details a comic love story involving an innocent Yorkshire lass and the hippest of hippies. Casting is under way.

Random plans to follow up this first project with a film of “The Search for the Dice Man,” Rhinehart's sequel to "The Dice Man."

The British company also is negotiating with Rhinehart for film options on two of his other novels: “Whim” and “White Wind, Black Rider.”

The movie adaptation rights to “The Dice Man” reside with Paramount Pictures.

(Editing by SheriLinden at Reuters)

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