April 6, 2009–Joel Schumacher will directed an adaptation of Nick McDonell's novel “Twelve,“ starring Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Ellen Barkin and Kiefer Sutherland. The production begins April 20 in New York.
In 2002, then 17-year-old McDonell wrote a novel that starkly depicted teenage drug use and decadence on the Upper East Side. The story, adapted to the screen by Jordan Melamed, follows a high school dropout-turned-drug dealer. His lucrative life sours when the dealer's cousin is brutally murdered on an East Harlem playground and his best friend is arrested for the crime.
Gaumont chair Sidonie Dumas and CEO Christophe Riandee will produce with Radar CEO Ted Field and Original Media CEO Charlie Corwin. Melamed also will be a producer with Bob Salerno; and Mike Weber will be exec producer.
Radar's Field optioned the novel in 2002, and the project came together with Corwin (“The Squid and the Whale”) and Gaumont, which will broker worldwide distribution deals for a film to be released in 2010.
