Los Angeles, CA—The popular website and purveyor of click-bait Buzzfeed.com announced last week that, amid pressure from major hollywood studios vying for the right to produce a film adaption, they have officially sold the film rights to their critically-acclaimed listicle ‘16 Turtles in Funny Hats,’ along with a number of other trending articles.
Following the announcement, Buzzfeed has decided to continue to branch out their brand into other mediums, having already started a children’s book adaptation of ‘35 Awesome Sandwiches From Brazil.’
The website has had its finger on America’s pulse since its origins in 2006. That year Buzzfeed announced to the world it was a force to be reckoned with when it published the groundbreaking article, ‘What Ryan Gosling Has in Common With a Panda.’
“We want to educate and entertain as many people as possible,” said Jack Bleakman, Buzzfeed’s senior editor and top Miley Cyrus correspondent. “With movies, we can spread our message everywhere! We want the world to know that journalism is not dead and everything is better in a list.”
Bleakman left his position at the New York Times because he felt the paper was creating a serious gap in news.
“Papers like the Times focus too heavily on politics. I wanted to create something that spotlights art, culture, and Adam Levine’s shoes.”
Hollywood has been buzzing about the new ‘Turtles’ script since its announcement. Paramount Pictures, the respected studio that acquired the script in a package along with the rights to ‘5 Hideous Christmas Sweaters,’ has already started putting the cast together. Paul Giamatti and Jennifer Lawrence have signed deals to play Turtles #4 and #9 respectively, and in a surprise move, Samuel L. Jackson has been cast as beloved turtle #2 with cowboy hat.
Whether the crossover into film is a success is still up in the air. With Dame Judi Dench circling the role of grumpy turtle #7 in beret and the last Buzzfeed adaptation, the television movie “An Ode to Rihanna’s Boobs” considered a failure, the fate of ‘Turtles’ is still uncertain.
Originally published: Dec 2013
