American Beauty Writer To Direct 'Towelhead'

[Thursday, September 23rd, 2004]
Writer Alan Ball (American Beauty, TV series creator 'Six Feet Under') has bought the rights to Towelhead, a provocative debut novel by Alicia Erian to be published in April, according to Variety.

Ball will write the script and hopes to make his feature directing debut on the film, once he wraps the fifth season of his HBO show next June.

Ball dropped everything after he got an early look at Towelhead, a book that mixes the sex drive of the underage with the repressed desires of adults.

Set during the Gulf War, the book is a coming-of-age story of a 13-year-old Arab-American girl who must navigate a sexual obsession with a bigoted Army reservist under the oppressive eye of her Lebanese father.

Erian is an Egyptian-American whose short story collection was published by Random House.

"I'd hoped to do something with my other scripts, but I fell in love with this beautiful book and took it off the market myself," said Ball, who has directed five episodes of "Six Feet Under" and will helm another this season. "I think the book is so good that it will create a sensation when it is published next April, and my goal is to have the script ready to go at the same time.."

Incendiary title and jailbait sex themes aside, Ball said the book has layers of angst that makes Towelhead much more than an ethnic rehash of Lolita.

Ball, who has already begun writing, said he will worry about financing after he completes the script. "It will not be a terribly expensive movie to make, and I think stars will be attracted to the roles because they are not common," he said.

More On 'Towelhead'...

E-Mail This Article » Share your comments on 'Towelhead'