Sony Pictures has acquired filming rights to Sheryl Sandberg's bestselling novel "Lean In" and has chosen TV writer and director Nell Scovell to write the script.
Sheryl Sandberg enjoys a business career many men and woman can only dream of. Last year, Sandberg released her bestselling novel "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead." The book was meant as an inspirational note to women, encouraging them to work their way to the top instead of calling it quits when children become a part of their lives.
Sony Pictures has attained the filming rights of the book and has decided to assign veteran TV writer/director Nell Scovell to write the script, according to a report from Deadline Hollywood. Scovell is currently directing an episode of MTV's "Awkward," as well as developing a half-hour animated show with Bento Box.
LeanIn.org foundation, which owns the rights to Sandberg's novel, confirmed licensing the name to Sony and said that all proceedings generated from the film will go to the foundation.
Sandberg is currently the chief operating officer of the world's most popular social-networking service - Facebook. In a Chicago Tribune report earlier this week, it was revealed that the 44-year-old businesswoman was one of the youngest U.S. billionaires. She owns 12.3 million shares of the Menlo Park, California-based social networking company, which closed at $58.51 in New York on Jan. 24. Her stake is valued at about $750 million.
"She was brought in to figure out how to make money," David Kirkpatrick, author of "The Facebook Effect," said in a telephone interview to Deadline. "It's proving to be one of the greatest stories in business history. She went to Google, moved on to go to Facebook, went to write a book, and she'll know when to run for political office, and probably win that office,"
Sony Pictures also made the critically acclaimed film based on the formation of the social giant Facebook, "The Social Network."
