TV Hot on Astro-Nut

That didn't take long. A mere week after astronaut Lisa Nowak drove 900 miles to confront a romantic rival at a Florida airport, TV producers are already chomping at the bit for Out There: A True Tale of Obsession and the Astronaut Attempted Murder Caseby Diane Fanning (St. Martin's, Oct.). The book promises an exhaustive look at the woman rapidly shaping up to be the Runaway Bride of 2007. Hotchkiss & Associates'Jody Hotchkiss is in "serious discussions" with several producers with an eye on turning Nowak's diaper drama into a cable MOW. Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich also reps Fanning.

Speaking of tabloid train wrecks, Hotchkiss is also lining up producers for Great Big Beautiful Doll: The Anna Nicole Smith Story. Barricade originally planned to publish in March an updated paperback edition of the 1996 tell-all by husband-and-wife team Eric Redding , the photographer who first sent Smith's pics to Playboy, and D'Eva Redding , but pushed up the date when the media turned all-Anna, all the time. Casting fun: Jennifer Coolidge as Smith?

Once in a while, Hollywood Reader likes to highlight an upcoming film adapted from a book. This week it's Starter for Ten, based on British screenwriter David Nicholls 's U.K. bestseller of the same name (published in 2004 by Villard as A Question of Attraction). This tale of an awkward working-class student wrestling with romance during his first year at university, reads like Nick Hornby at his best. One of HR's favorites of that year, the novel didn't captivate the big studios, enabling Tom Hanks 's Playtone to option it for about $10,000. The movie, a sort of British Breaking Away set in the '80s and fueled by dorm staples such as the Cure, Yaz and Kate Bush, is a modestly ambitious but sweet affair featuring three winning performances by leads James McAvoy , Rebecca Hall and Alice Eve . Nicholls's novel barely registered in the U.S. If the movie (opening February 23) doesn't expand Nicholls's U.S. readership, his second adaptation likely will: Universal and Playtone have just signed Chris Columbus (the first two Harry Potter films) to direct Nicholls's follow-up, The Understudy (Villard, 2005). The author is scheduled to deliver his third novel at the end of this year. CAA's Bob Bookman reps Nicholls.

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