Paramount Pictures Buys Screen Rights to New York Times Bestsellers Beautiful Boy by David Sheff and Tweak by Nic Sheff

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Paramount Pictures announced today that it has purchased the screen rights to the current New York Times non-fiction bestsellers Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff and Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff, for development and feature film production by Plan B.

The critically lauded Beautiful Boy, published by Houghton Mifflin Co., chronicles the teenage Nic Sheff's descent into methamphetamine abuse from the point of view of his father, journalist David Sheff, as he struggles to help his son overcome addiction. In Tweak, Nic Sheff himself details a harrowing summer during which he lapsed back into drugs and how he eventually recovered. Beautiful Boy and Tweak immediately became non-fiction bestsellers. Beautiful Boy is currently #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. The books were hailed for the unique approach of a father and son tackling the same experience from two different perspectives, and they are recognized as definitive books about a problem that is epidemic in American society.

Beautiful Boy is being sold in Starbucks stores around the country as part of the Starbucks Select book series. The film will be produced in association with Starbucks.

Plan B Entertainment is actor/producer Brad Pitt's production company, which has an overall deal with Paramount and has previously produced such films as the Oscar(R)-winning "The Departed," "Troy," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "A Mighty Heart" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." Among Plan B's upcoming projects for Paramount are "Eat, Pray, Love" based on the bestselling novel with Julia Roberts to star and Ryan Murphy to direct; the action film "The Killer" and the fantasy horror film "Black Hole," both of which will be directed by David Fincher; the horror/thriller "World War Z"; and the adventure film "Lost City of Z."

Sheff was represented by ICM's Amanda Urban and Ron Bernstein. About Paramount Pictures Corporation

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom , a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films, Nickelodeon Movies and DreamWorks Studios. PPC operations also include Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.

For further information contact: Jessica Rovins, Senior Vice President Publicity, Paramount Pictures Jessica_Rovins@Paramount.com 323-956-8265