The film adaptation of Angie Thomas’ second novel, On the Come Up, has a new home. After Fox 2000 was unexpectedly shuttered after the Disney-Fox merger, all of its titles in development are looking to be moved. On the Come Up has moved to Paramount’s Paramount Players.
Fox 2000, a sub-label of 20th Century Fox, was known for its mid-budget, young adult and family-oriented films that were mostly literary adaptations. The division garnered prestige and was headed by Elizabeth Gabler, who championed many of the films, including the adaptation of Thomas’ first novel, The Hate U Give. She is expected to be a hot commodity on the market (Paramount could also be her new home) and will likely take a lot of the films in development with her.
On the Come Up is the second Fox 2000 title to make a move, following Tom Hanks’ News of the World which has shuffled to Universal. The last film released by Fox 2000 will be this year’s The Woman in the Window starring Amy Adams and Brian Tyree Henry.
The Hate U Give director George Tillman Jr. will also helm this film.
Here’s the official novel description, which hit bookshelves on February 5, 2019:
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill. But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons.
Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.
Thomas will produce the film with Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner and John Fischer of Temple Hill, as well as Tillman, Robert Teitel and Jay Marcus from State Street Pictures.
Temple Hill has a deal at Paramount, which could have produced this reshuffling.
Deadline first reported the news that On the Come Up was moving to Paramount.
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Photo: Angie Thomas / HarperCollins
