Prison Dog Training Memoir 'Weekends With Daisy' Headed to Big Screen (Exclusive)

Getty CBS Films has pre-emptively grabbed film rights to the forthcoming memoirWeekends with Daisy, written bySharron Kahn Luttrell.our editor recommendsTHR's 5 Books of the Week: Stephen King, Formula One, Rock History, and Umberto EcoWhat Amy Baer's Exit Means for CBS Films' Future With elements of The Blind Side, Luttrell's story details how as a middle-class freelance journalist in New England she decided to volunteer for an inmate dog-training program. By taking a labrador puppy on the weekends to continue its training in the outside world, Luttrell eventually formed adeepening relationship with both the dog and the male convict who was training her in prison. (Much of the U.S. service-dog population is trained by prisoners.) PHOTOS: 10 Biggest Book-to-Big Screen Adaptations of the Last 25 Years Lauren Shuler DonnerandJack Leslieof the Donners' Company are producing the project. Both execs have long been involved in supporting similar inmate dog-training programs.Execs Mark Ross and Ryan Conroy are overseeing for the studio. Gotham Group'sEllen Goldsmith-VeinandLuke Sandlerrepped the sale of the book's film rights.Daisy is currently out to publishers, though no deal has yet been set. CBS films is in production on Seven Psychopaths and 7500, while its Toronto acquisition Salmon Fishing in the Yemen will open in theaters in March. The company will next release The Woman in Black in February. The Donners' Company most recently produced the Fox actioner X-Men: First Class, which grossed $354 million worldwide this year. Lauren Shuler-Donner CBS Films