Sony Pictures buys film rights to Sandberg’s 'Lean In'

The book became a cultural phenomenon last year.

LOS ANGELES: Sony Pictures Entertainment has purchased the film rights to Facebook Inc Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s best-selling memoir on female empowerment, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, a source familiar with the deal said on Friday.

Sony Pictures’ Columbia Pictures division will handle development of the script, which will be based on themes in the book and not on Sandberg’s life, the source said. The script will be written by Nell Scovell who helped Sandberg pen the book, while Sandberg will write the original narrative reflecting on the themes discussed in her book. Sandberg will donate her portion of the proceeds from the deal to her Lean In foundation, the source added.

Sony Pictures is the film and television arm of Sony Corp. The deal was first reported by industry website Deadline Hollywood. Sony Pictures spokesman Charles Sipkins declined to comment.

Lean In reignited debate over women’s opportunities in the professional world after it was published last March. It focuses on ways for women to attain more power in the workplace, including how to command more respect from colleagues.

At the age of 44, Sandberg is considered to be one of the world’s youngest billionaires after shares of Facebook rose earlier this week and made her one of the few women to cross the $1 billion mark in net worth.

Sandberg worked for the US Treasury Department and Google Inc before joining Facebook in 2008.

Columbia Pictures also distributed 2010 movie, The Social Network, about the life of founding father of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. The film won a number of Golden Globes so are we expecting another Academy favourite?

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2014.

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