If there were a Bro Code for business, it would dictate that a career shared with one’s sibling is likely to be a good call. This fraternal model has had an illustrious history, from Marx to Coen to Farrelly (and to a lesser extent, Lehman). And so it is for Chris and Paul Weitz, whose "American Pie" redefined the teenage-boy-and-his-friend’s-mother-who’s-still-got-it dynamic, and simultaneously dealt an awkward blow to America’s baked goods industry.
Deadline reports that the Weitzes (who have gone solo on a few projects from time to time including "A Better Life," "In Good Company" and "The Golden Compass") are back on the bro wagon with a TV adaptation in the pipeline for Neal Stephenson’s bestseller "Reamde." The novel, which will be executive produced for Fox TV Studios, is a broad-scale thriller which tracks the overlap of the real and the virtual as a malfunction in a sophisticated online strategy game renders it a real-world pursuit across the globe. Ambitious stuff to be sure, and given the devoted following Stephenson has, it will be a project that will undoubtedly be heavily scrutinized in certain quarters.
In related news, the sort-of-aptly-named Shockya.com has revealed that Paul Weitz, who is currently preparing for the release of a new comedy, "Admission," is in the early stages of a film adaptation of Ann Patchett’s Orange Prize-winning novel, "Bel Canto." The narrative, which sounds awfully like that Buñuelian one from the 1970s, is based on the 1996 Lima Crisis and follows a birthday party for the Vice President which overstays its welcome by several months as it becomes the center of a hostage crisis.
So a couple of certainly unexpected projects from the Weitz clan, as they dip into the library books for inspiration. We'll see soon enough how it all turns out.