Before Michael Crichton was known as the bestselling author of works like The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Congo, Sphere, Rising Sun, and Disclosure, and before he directed movies like Westworld, Coma, The Great Train Robbery, Looker, Runaway, and Physical Evidence, he was a medical school student who was publishing novels under the pseudonym John Lange because he didn’t want his future patients to worry that he would use their stories in his writing. Now Deadline has broken the news that CrichtonSun, which is run by the author’s widow Sherri Crichton, has secured a deal with Blackstone Publishing to get the eight John Lange novels re-published.
According to Deadline, Blackstone Publishing has made a seven-figure deal with CrichtonSun to acquire the worldwide print, eBook and audiobook rights to Crichton’s first series of novels, which he wrote under the pseudonym John Lange. The eight books comprise unconnected tales of fiction in numerous genres and will be shopped to studios and streamers for potential film/television adaptations. Perhaps Crichton didn’t want to mix writing prescriptions and prose, but he used the John Lange pseudonym for Odds On (1966), Scratch One (1967), Easy Go (1968), Zero Cool (1969), The Venom Business (1969), Drug of Choice (1970), Grave Descend (1970), and Binary (1972). Some of these novels touched on the science sandbox he wrote in later on but with pulpy, crime-thriller twists. All the books are set in the late 1960s and ’70s and were in a way his tribute to Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, and to one of his favorite Alfred Hitchcock films, To Catch a Thief. The subjects range from secret treasures to heists, archaeology, unlikely heroes, classic villains and seductive and at times treacherous lovers. At the time, becoming an author was Crichton’s dream, though he had the smarts to be a doctor. These books birthed a great writing career.
Sherri Crichton provided the following statement: “I am thrilled to partner with Blackstone Publishing to publish my husband’s series of John Lange books. In these eight early adventure books, Michael was honing his skills and themes that would later make him one of the most successful authors of all time. It is such an honor and pleasure to see the John Lange books freshly and newly published by Blackstone, to reintroduce these books to fans and also present them to a whole new generation of readers.“
Blackstone CEO Josh Stanton added: “Blackstone is extremely honored to bring Mr. Crichton’s early works back to the forefront. I want to specifically thank Sherri Crichton for trusting us with these special works. Michael was a master storyteller and is one of the most beloved writers of all time for good reason. I can’t wait for both new and existing loyal fans to dive into these timeless adventures.“
Although Crichton received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, he never practiced. He wrote instead.
John Lange wasn’t the only pseudonym he used. On the 1968 novel A Case of Need, he went by the name Jeffery Hudson, since the book had a different tone than his Lange work. A Case of Need was later re-published under his own name in 1993. And when he wrote the 1970 novel Dealing with his brother Douglas Crichton, they used the pseudonym Michael Douglas.
Deadline notes that CrichtonSun is also teaming up with Shane Salerno at The Story Factory “to generate new adaptations of her Crichton’s work in film, TV and publishing.” The company is partnering with James Patterson to work on an unfinished Crichton manuscript that Little, Brown and Company will be publishing, and the hope is it will receive a film or TV adaptation as well. So even though Crichton passed away in 2008, it sounds like we might be seeing a lot of Crichton adaptations in the near future.
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