A movie version of Eric Weber’s seduction guide “How to Pick Up Girls!” is in development.
The Exchange has picked up feature rights to the 1968 tome and will produce in association with Josh Sugarman for the Tenafly Film Co., which has opened a Los Angeles office.
“How to Pick Up Girls!” has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide and been translated into 20 languages. Weber marketed the guide — based on interviews with women and touted as the means for men to charm complete strangers — through ads in Playboy, National Lampoon, GQ and Esquire.
“As a seminal work, ‘How to Pick Up Girls!’ is universal — both contemporary and classic,” said Brian O’Shea, CEO of The Exchange. “A feature film of the book will be equally universal and entertaining.”
The book was made into a 1978 TV movie starring Desi Arnaz Jr. Weber, who has been a writer-director on “A Jersey Christmas” and “Suits,” will executive produce the film.
“The Pill, the Stones: a lot was new in New York when I started interviewing women for ‘How to Pick Up Girls!,'” Weber said. “Plenty has changed since then, but just as much as stayed remarkably the same. It’s going to be a lot of fun showing that on screen.”
The Exchange is co-selling international rights with 6 Sales to Jake Paltrow’s “Young Ones,” starring Nicolaus Hult, Elle Fanning and Kodi Smit-McPhee. The film will premiere next month at Sundance.