EXCLUSIVE: BCDF Pictures and Frolic Media are set to produce a feature adaptation of New York Times best-selling author Tessa Bailey’s bestselling romantic comedy novel It Happened One Summer.
The book is the first installment in Bailey’s #1 New York Times and #1 USA Today bestselling Bellinger Sisters series. It has also been a TikTok sensation with a hashtag with over 35 million views. Christina Mengert (The Hating Game) and Joseph Muszynski (The Unhoneymooners) have adapted the book. BCDF’s Claude Dal Farra and Brian Keady will produce alongside Lisa Berger from Frolic.
It Happened One Summer follows a Hollywood ‘It Girl,’ who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong. The story turns the classic ‘It Girl’ trope on its head as fun and fashionable socialite Piper clashes with gruff local fisherman Brendan to swoon-worthy results. Truly a fish out of water, Piper must grapple with her newfound feelings–about Brendan, the town, her past and her hopes for the future.
The novel has been on the USA Today bestseller list for the last 10 weeks and has received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus and has been named a “Must-Read” by Bustle, BuzzFeed, PopSugar, CNN, Vulture, PARADE, Country Living, USA Today, and Entertainment Weekly.
Mengert recently adapted romantic comedy The Hating Game for BCDF, which reached #3 on the iTunes Top Movie Rentals Chart (behind No Time to Die and Venom: Let There Be Carnage), and was #1 on the iTunes Independent Movie Rental Chart for six consecutive weeks.
Muszynski most recently adapted Christina Lauren’s New York Times bestselling romantic comedy novel The Unhoneymooners for BCDF.
Bailey said, “From this moment on, I am living to see Brendan and Piper brought to life on screen. I’m thrilled and honored that BCDF Pictures and Frolic Media want to make this happen!”
“We are excited to be continuing our journey into wonderful romantic comedy adaptations,” said BCDF’s Dal Farra.
“Our mission at Frolic is to tell great love stories, and we are thrilled to be working with our partners at BCDF to bring Bailey’s swoon-worthy novel to life,” said Berger.
BCDF Pictures 2022 productions include female trucker movie Big Rig, starring Vanessa Hudgens; The Ploughmen, directed by Ed Harris; Which Brings Me to You, starring Lucy Hale; 2022 SXSW title To Leslie, starring Andrea Riseborough and Allison Janney; an adaptation of Gabrielle Zevin’s International Bestseller The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, starring Kunal Nayyar, Christina Hendricks, and Hale; and an adaptation of the bestselling supernatural romance series Hush, Hush, which has been greenlit as a feature franchise at Paramount+.
Frolic Media was founded in 2018 by industry executives Berger and Sarah Penna. Frolic caters to the one billion dollar Romance industry, and devoted to compelling storytelling from strong female voices. Frolic’s community has steadily grown across their platforms, and reaches over 10 million in its influencer network.
Bailey is represented by Sugar23 and Bradford Literary Agency. The novel is published by HarperCollins.
