In an unexpected pairing and surprising announcement, Searchlight Pictures, has slated “Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino to direct the dramatic adaptation of the Matt Tyrnauer-directed documentary “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood.” The twist? Searchlight also set Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan to adapt and write the screenplay.
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“Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” is a 2017 documentary from Matt Tyrnauer, originally based on Scotty Bowers’s 2012 tell-all book “Full Service.” Searchlight obtained the rights to the narrative adaptation of the documentary last year.
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The documentary centers on Scotty Bowers, a now-celebrated icon in Hollywood history. From the 1940s to the 1980s, Bowers privately worked as a bisexual male hustler and coordinated a plethora of dates and hook-ups for gay Hollywood celebrities. As told in his book and in the doc, Bowers ran this side-hustle of sorts out his own Hollywood-based gas station. Needless to say, Bowers can and should be considered an original template for championing the LGBT community in entertainment. We are more than interested to see how Guadagnino, Rogan, and Goldberg tell his story.
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Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan have been bff longtime collaborators throughout their careers, writing, directing and producing many films together, including “Superbad,” “Pineapple Express,” “The Night Before,” “This Is the End,” “The Interview” and “Sausage Party.” Recently, Goldberg and Rogan created the surprisingly buzzy series “The Boys” for Prime and have continued their work on “Preacher” for AMC.
It seems like Guadagnino plans to keep his schedule packed for the foreseeable future. Just two months ago it was announced that he was set to direct the Coen Brothers-written “Scarface” remake, which, naturally, dominated headlines. Earlier this month, HBO teased a first look at Guadagnino’s new coming-of-age series “We Are Who We Are,” which stars Chloë Sevigny, Kid Cudi, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Alice Braga among others. Still in the pipeline for Guadagnino is his “Lord of the Flies” adaptation for Warner Bros., which recently set author Patrick Ness to write.
Searchlight will release the picture, with Director of Production Richard Ruiz overseeing the production. Matt Tyrnauer and Corey Reeser will produce for Point Grey Pictures. Searchlight awaits the release of Wes Anderson’s delayed “The French Dispatch” and Joe Wright’s “The Woman in the Window,” which was delayed in late 2019.