HarperCollins and Fox Television Producing Shows...

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter)-- In its first television deal, HarperCollins Publishers has signed a deal with producer Fox Television Studios to develop original content based on the publisher's new and backlist titles.

The agreement between the News Corp.-owned companies covers mystery and romance books initially, but that could be expanded to other genres in the future.

The first deal involves the development of a TV series based on Lisa Scottoline's nine-volume series of legal suspense novels about female partners in the prestigious Rosato law firm. The first novel in the series, "Legal Tender," was published by HarperCollins in 1997.

Fox TV Studios also has optioned Elizabeth Noble's "The Reading Group," which chronicles a year in the life of a group of women who form a book club and find that their own personal stories are mirrored in the books they discuss.

"This collaboration gives us unprecedented access to an untapped resource of talented writers -- new voices for the TV and digital space," Fox Television Studios president Angela Shapiro-Mathes said. "It also allows (Fox TV Studios) to pursue publishing opportunities for the original programming we develop and produce."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
By Kimberly Nordyke