When Red Om, the production company headed by Julia Roberts, needed to scrounge up some loot for a vast array of upcoming projects, the actress looked to a seemingly unlikely place: India.
According to Variety, the company just bought screen rights to the upcoming non-fiction book 'In the Neighborhood,' a deal made with India-based Reliance Big Entertainment that stands as the fifth project in development between the two companies. Reliance Big has augmented the major studios' buying power with its hope to grow 30 films it can co-finance with studios.
'Neighborhood,' by author Peter Lovenheim, revolves around the author's desire to increase a sense of community by asking his neighbors if he could sleep over their houses. The book is set for release next April.
Roberts and her team have a number of upcoming projects in development, including:
'My Mother The Cheerleader': from the Robert Sharenow book of the same name, the story takes place in Civil Rights-era New Orleans and revolves around a 13-year old girl whose mother is one of many women that harass the first black student after court-ordered integration.
'Jesus Henry Christ': 'Fireflies in the Garden' director Dennis Lee will write and direct this comedy adaptation of Lee's own award-winning short film about a boy raised by a left-wing feminist that attempts to find his father by following Post-It notes stuck all over his town.
'Mallory': based on the life of British mountain climber and Mount Everest conqueror George Mallory.
'The Journey of the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon': based on the book about Dan Eldon, a 22-year old photographer chronicling the famine in Somalia until his vicious murder at the hands of a mob angered by a U.N. missile strike.
If all goes according to plan, 2010 should be a big year for both Red Om and Reliance Big, as the companies expect multiple pictures to be ready for production.
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