France's 'love' Goes To Wolper

The Wolper Organization has acquired feature film rights to "Love and Terror," an article about suicide bombers by David France.

France's true story, published in O: The Oprah Magazine in June, chronicled a teenage Palestinian girl's arrest and conviction on charges of plotting a suicide bombing following her disastrous affair with a charismatic rebel leader who was locked in war with the Israeli military.

The adaptation will be made by Wolper in association with Pterodactyl and Plain Brown Wrapper Prods. Mark Wolper and Kevin Nicklaus are producers along with Ivan Cohen, William Haworth and Aaron Peters. France also will be a producer.

Suicide bombings are in the news on an almost daily basis, and there have been a few recent attempts to try to cinematically convey the issue. Warner International Pictures' "Paradise Now" is one movie garnering raves for walking the line of a topic that can be both political and religious.

"Much like 'Maria Full of Grace,' here is a crime trend not being pursued by criminals," France said in an interview. "Suicide bombing is the crime of our time. We don't really understand it. We ascribe religious and political meaning to it, but what really happens?"

He added: "In this case, it was motivated by a tragic love affair. It's a true life Romeo and Juliet. Here is a young girl who lived in a dire circumstance and fell in love with the baddest boy in town, who was a member of the armed resistance. She fell for him for all the traditional reasons (a girl falls for a boy)."

Said Nicklaus: "In this piece, we felt that David was able to capture the way young, unsophisticated people are being manipulated and their politics (are) being perverted by terrorist organizations to stoke discord as Israel and the PLO are trying to broker peace. We think it's an interesting story."

A search for writers is under way.

France is no stranger to hot-button issues. His book "Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in the Age of Scandal" was turned into the Emmy-nominated Showtime movie "Our Fathers," starring Ted Danson and Christopher Plummer.

The Wolper Organization, which made its name with such miniseries as "Roots" and "The Thorn Birds" and the more recent "The Mists of Avalon," is selective when venturing into the feature world. The company's last feature was 1997's Oscar-winning "L.A. Confidential."