Nothing like a happy ending to stoke a feeding frenzy.
In the latest attempt to capitalize on a feel-good, ripped-from-the-headlines story, Tinseltown's ratings-conscious denizens are rushing to bring the Elizabeth Smart saga to the screen.
Since Elizabeth's triumphant homecoming six days ago, the Smart family has reportedly received more than 3,000 interview requests and close to 100 film, book and made-for-TV movie proposals, as producers and agents jockey to purchase the family's story rights.
NBC and CBS are among those competing to develop a Smart project, along with the USA and Lifetime cable networks, with one network allegedly considering banging out an unauthorized special in time for May sweeps (though critics say the absence of a script at this point would make the production timetable almost impossible).
Also in the running is crime-solver John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted and The John Walsh Show. Walsh, who broadcast his eponymous daytime talk show from the Smart's hometown of Salt Lake City this morning, interviewed Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, after she had been kidnapped last June and remained in touch with the family throughout their nine-month ordeal.
Elizabeth's recovery last Wednesday--and the arrest of her kidnapper Brian David Mitchell and wife Wanda Barzee--was based in part on two leads generated by Fox's true-crime series America's Most Wanted, while the John Walsh Show scored record ratings during the host's live satellite interview with a relieved Ed on Thursday.
However, Smart family spokesman Chris Thomas denies reports that Walsh has pitched a production deal, telling the Associated Press "It came up in a discussion between Ed and John, when Ed was asking John for advice on a number of things. John said, 'I'm not even going to go there. I've read rumors that I've got the inside source on this. I do have a production company and if you're interested you can talk to me, but I'm not pitching you. That would be a really tacky thing to do in my capacity.'"
Calls to Walsh's reps were not returned.
Regardless, casting for a young actress to play the 15-year-old girl, who was kidnapped at knifepoint and allegedly brainwashed by her captors, may be premature--the Smart family has yet to express any interest in selling their story rights to an outside source.
"It's something that they're [Ed and Lois] Smart going to deal with soon. They're trying to figure this all out--it comes down to let someone else tell the story, or tell it themselves," Thomas told the AP.
Deals offered to the Smart family have reportedly ranged between $500,000 to $1.35 million--the rescued miners who were the subject of the TV movie The Pennsylvania Miner's Story last November sold their rights to ABC for $150,000 apiece--but the family spokesman insists the family is not ready to place a dollar amount on their ordeal. (Despite reports to the contrary, ABC says it's sitting the Smart-teleflick derby out.)
"Right now, their main focus is on Elizabeth and books and movies and exterior things are secondary," said Thomas. "The family is being very calculated in every action, and weighing the pros and cons of everything with the predominant priority being Elizabeth's well-being."