Diablo Cody is certainly charting an interesting career, winning an Oscar for her very first produced script, Juno, then creating the TV series United States Of Tara, which is a comedy about a woman with multiple personality disorder, and most recently scripting the Megan Fox teen horror, Jennifer’s Body. Now she’s taking another unexpected turn by signing up to write and produce a film based on the popular teen book series, Sweet Valley High.
Universal is now negotiating the rights for the books with author Francine Pascal and publishers Radom House. There’s certainly a lot of source material for Cody to work with, as there are more than 150 Sweet Valley High books, that were published between 1983 and 2003, all about identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, who may look alike but who have very different personalities – one of the sensible and practical, and the other flighty and boy-crazy.
The books were previously turned in a TV series in the mid-90s, starring Brittany and Cynthia Daniel, however this will be Sweet Valley High’s first foray onto the big screen.
While you’d expect Cody would want to subvert the books, Juno style, it’s unlikely the publishers would give her permission to play with the basic concept too much, however Diablo has carved herself a niche for writing sassy teen dialogue, so she may still be able to do a good job with Sweet Valley High.