Warner Bros Pre-Buys Kristin Hannah Book ‘The Women,’ Developing Portrait Of Vietnam Nurses For Film

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group has preemptively acquired rights to The Women, a new book from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah, which is up for publication by St. Martin’s Press in February.

The book exposes a turbulent, transformative time in America — the 1960s — specifically honing in on the often forgotten story of the nurses who served in the Vietnam war. It is at once an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics, of a generation both fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield.

Hannah’s work on the novel saw her interview several former nurses who served during the war. The adaptation will be overseen by Cate Adams and Diamond McNeil on behalf of Warner Bros.

Previous bestsellers from Hannah, who’s written dozens of novels to date, include The Four Winds and The Nightingale, which respectively examine the Great Depression and the struggle for survival of two sisters in Nazi-occupied France.

Earlier this month, Warner Bros ironed out a new strategic partnership which will see Tom Cruise return to the studio to develop and produce original and franchise theatrical titles in which he’ll star. The company recently saw Paul Thomas Anderson set a starry cast for his next feature, as we were first to report, and also has on its upcoming slate a Frankenstein pic from Maggie Gyllenhaal and the Minecraft film starring Jason Momoa, among many other projects.

Hannah is represented by CAA and Jane Rotrosen Agency.