The Help Movie: The Bestselling Novel by Kathryn Stockett Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture

Fans of Kathryn Stockett's bestselling novel The Help will be excited to know that the book is soon to be on the big screen. In fact, The Help movie has been a hopeful collaboration since before the novel was published, thanks to author Kathryn Stockett's longtime friendship with actor and director Tate Taylor.

Taylor, creator of the short films Chicken Party and Pretty Ugly People, tried to convince Stockett to let him option the rights to the novel before it was even published, reports Chris Talbot of the Associated Press. When the novel became a success, Taylor approached director Chris Columbus, who admired Chicken Party and expressed interest in working with Taylor. Columbus took The Help to his friend Steven Spielberg, co-founder of DreamWorks Studios.

DreamWorks put The Help movie into production with Taylor at the helm of his first major studio film. Taylor wrote the script adaptation while constantly consulting his longtime friend Stockett, and will produce and direct the movie.

Stockett, Taylor, and his producing partner Brunson Green, who will also produce on The Help, all grew up within a one-mile radius of each other in Jackson, Mississippi. In placing her work in the hands of her childhood friends, Stockett exudes confidence. "I cannot think of a better team than Tate Taylor and Brunson Green to bring 'The Help' to the screen." she says. "I know Tate and Brunson will stay true to the story."

The Help is Stockett's first novel. Published in February 2009, it has spent 50 weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List to date and is currently in the top five. Set in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi, The Help tells the story of recent college-graduate Skeeter Phelan as she interviews black maids who work in the white households of Jackson Though she wants to publish the stories in an effort to bring change to the unjust race relations of the time, Skeeter also has a personal motive in collecting the stories. She desperately wants to know the truth behind the sudden dismissal Constantine, the beloved maid who worked in her home and practically raised her.

Read a review of The Help.

After acquiring the novel's rights only a few weeks ago, DreamWorks is quickly moving forward with the project. The studio is close to signing the actress Emma Stone, from Superbad and Zombieland, to play the lead part of Skeeter Phelan.

Sources:
"Best-seller The Help Headed to the Big Screen" Yahoo News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_en_mo/us_books_the_help

"Breaking News" DreamWorks Studios
http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/

"Emma Stone in Talks for Help" Variety
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118016781.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2562&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+variety/headlines+%28Variety+-+Latest+News%29