'It's going to blow people's minds,' screenwriter tells MTV News about the in-the-works adaptation.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
Diablo Cody
Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images
Diablo Cody explored the life of one particular "Young Adult" author in her screenplay for the Charlize Theron film. Next up, she herself is taking on the challenge of adapting a beloved young-adult franchise, "Sweet Valley High," for the big screen.
And while she's knee-deep in work for the project, when MTV News caught up with the screenwriter at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards on Thursday night in Los Angeles, she revealed one very juicy detail about the adaptation.
"Oh my gosh! OK, so I am so excited about 'Sweet Valley High.' There's original songs being written for it right now, which is the most exciting development. They're amazing. They're being written by these Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning songwriters from Broadway who are the best," she gushed, confirming that the film will be a musical version of the novels. "Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt, who wrote [the Broadway show] 'Next to Normal'; they're amazing and I'm sorry, I could go on and on. But I'm very excited about 'Sweet Valley High.' It's going to blow people's minds. I haven't really had the chance to talk about this yet, so it's exciting."
The Francine Pascal novels (which debuted in 1983) follow the lives of twin teenagers, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, who live in Sweet Valley, California. The series is full of puppy love, teen angst and the kind of drama and comedy that keeps people tuning into the CW and ABC Family week after week. If you've never read the books before, Cody assures you that you can still love the movie. "It [has] a lot of familiar '80s awesomeness for fans of the series, and if you've never heard of 'Sweet Valley High' you will want to," she said, noting that casting plans are still to be determined.
"Obviously I will be playing the twins. Old-fashioned '60s-style split screen," she joked.
Check out everything we've got on "Sweet Valley High."
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