IP Picks🔎: A 'Killers of the Flower Moon'-Like Thriller Set in Jim Crow Georgia
➕ A father and son bond in the wilderness while the world collapses
Welcome to The Optionist. Thanks for being here.
There’s been a flood of great articles I want to flag for you. They’re not optionable IP material, but informative pieces on various aspects of the business. First, this Hustle piece on the “The Murky Math of the New York Times Bestsellers List” pulls back the curtain on the most influential list to remind us that it’s not a straight sales ranking. It’s something more idiosyncratic. The NYT list has its uses and is a great marketing hook, but the idea that its rankings reflect broad popularity is silly.
People interested in horror should read this Scientific American story on the evolutionary reasons why we like scary stories. It basically argues that our love of horror movies, slasher films and everything else that goes bump in the night is pretty hardwired into who we are.
The Boston Globe thinks we’re drowning in historical fiction. Obviously, we see that on the screen in everything from Killers of the Flower Moon to Oppenheimer to The Gilded Age. But an English professor argues that this trend has been going on for longer and with more force in books. He goes so far as to argue that contemporary literature isn’t, well, very contemporary anymore. He has theories on why this is happening. Thinking about this trend might influence the next thing you option.
The Globe also wants you to know that #librarytok is a thing, to go alongside #booktok.
If you haven’t been paying attention to the Top Gun lawsuit, you should. The final result could have implications for IP in Hollywood. The question comes down to whether Top Gun: Maverick is also derivative of the original Los Angeles Magazine story, or something wholly new. I talked to the IP lawyers behind “The Briefing” podcast about this a while back, but both sides have now filed for summary judgment.
Finally, I wrote a piece for The Ankler about the untold story of the real men behind the dog tags Alan Alda wore playing Hawkeye Pierce on M*A*S*H. I’m usually too modest to tout my own stuff, but I’m pretty proud of this one and I think it is a great read for Veterans Day.
But let’s get to the main event. Here’s the rundown for this week:
A suspenseful Killers of the Flower Moon-like drama about the murder of 11 Black men in 1920s Georgia.
A torn-from-the-history-pages courtroom drama about an aborted slave rebellion before the Civil War.
A coming-of-age drama/comedy about Latina teen dealing with a crazy family and an ailing grandmother with secrets.
An apocalyptic drama about a man bonding with his young son in the NH wilderness to escape a world in collapse.
