Producer acquires
film rights to gay baseball novel

Andrew Lang--producer of the upcoming film Loverboy starring Kevin Bacon--has acquired film rights to The Dreyfus Affair, Peter Lefcourt's seriocomic novel about a major league shortstop who falls in love with his second baseman. A film adaptation of the best-selling 1992 novel had lingered in development at Disney, Fox, and New Line before Lang acquired the rights through his Andrew Lang Productions banner. According to a statement, the decision was not motivated by a recent Los Angeles Times story in which The Dreyfus Affair was noted as a project that could benefit from the runaway success of Brokeback Mountain.

"The time is right for The Dreyfus Affair to be made into a film," said Lang, who had been negotiating the rights for the past two months. "At its heart, Peter's groundbreaking novel is a crowd-pleasing love story. Our film will remain faithful to the book's upbeat and provocative roots, which is why we are looking at directors who have demonstrated a razor's-edge sense of comedic timing."

Lefcourt is working on a new adaptation and will serve as a producer along with Lang. Lefcourt's other novels include The Woody, The Deal, and The Manhattan Beach Project, a skewering of reality television. (Advocate.com)