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Matched Movie Director: David Slade Out, Jon Chu Steps In

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Jon Chu

Jon Chu

David Slade is no longer set to direct Disney’s upcoming adaptation of Matched. Though there’s no news as to why this change occurred, Heat Vision is reporting that Jon Chu is about to seal a deal to take his place in the director’s chair!

Jon Chu is mostly known for more modern-day, highly-choreographed films like Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D (both of which he worked on with Matched producer Adam Shankman) as well as the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation. It will be interested to see what he does with a heartfelt futuristic romance!

The article also confirms that the script written by Michelle and Kiernan Mulroney (who also penned Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows) is complete! Hopefully, this means the project will start rolling along quickly from here on out!

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Reached (Die Ankunft) Scores Big in Germany

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Ally Condie has hit Twitter to thank her German fans for the huge success of REACHED– aka DIE ANKUNFT– in their nation!

DIE ANKUNFT

Die Ankunft is currently #3 on Der Spiegel’s German Bestseller List. This includes all hardcover books, not just Young Adult series! Last week it was at #2!

To show just how hyped up the books were right now, German Matched Trilogy fan Emmy Neal sent Ally this picture from her local train station:
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Reached’s “Mud Bird” Brought to Life

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If you’ve not read Reached yet, this post contains minor spoilers!

Ally Condie posted a picture of her own “mud bird”, as created by her friend Brook Andreoli:

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On her blog, Allysaid:

I’ll keep this quite spoiler-free, but basically it’s a scene where a girl makes a bird out of some materials (one of those materials is mud, and one is glass). It’s a scene about creation and making something out of what you have.

I’m working on a new mud bird right now. Several of them, actually, and boy, are my hands dirty. And I am certainly getting lots of little cuts as I work with what I have and try to repurpose new things. I’m not just talking about writing projects (though I do have some of those!). Creation can be exhilarating. It can also be painful.

Ally Condie’s First Event of 2013

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Ally Condie has taken to Facebook to announce her first event of 2013: She’ll be taking part in the Orem Writes: YA Writers author panel with Rob Wells and Jen Nielsen!

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Here are the details:
Thursday, January 10th
Orem Public Library
Orem, UT
7 p.m.

There will be no formal sale or book signing at the event, but as Ally mentioned in her Facebook comments “…I’m sure if you came up to me with books after I would be unable to say no. ;-) “

The Associated Press Profiles Ally Condie

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w620-5f1b9452c335c19ca28823c8bd1c0d9aAlly Condie is the subject of a fun new profile in The Washington Examiner written by the Associated Press that discussed the success of the Matched Trilogy, but also pays homage to how the best-selling author made her way into the business:

So, with three best-selling books in three years, it appears that Condie, 34, has just suddenly hit the jackpot. In an interview before a recent program for teens in Bethesda, however, Condie is quick to correct the record, noting that she earlier had published five novels for teens with a small, religious-focused publisher, Deseret Book Company in her home state of Utah, before even beginning “Matched.”

In fact, Condie now credits those early novels as a type of apprenticeship that gave her the skills to eventually write her best-selling trilogy.

“The editors there [at Deseret Book] were the first ones to see some promise in me, and I’m grateful,” Condie added.

Read the full profile here!

Ally Condie’s Book Suggestions for the Holidays

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Do you have a Matched trilogy lover in your life who might appreciate some books suggested by Ally Condie? Check out Ally’s favorite book ideas for children and adults!

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FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS by Diana Peterfreund. I’ve posted about this book before, but it bears repeating–this book is a lot of fun. It’s a dystopian retelling of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, and it’s extremely well-written, AND you could give it to anyone from age 9-90. It’s fast-paced and cultured and clean and gorgeous.

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IN A GLASS GRIMMLY by Adam Gidwitz. I’m giving this to friends with kids who will love a gory, glorious read-aloud. And, frankly, I should give this to some adults too, because it’s hysterically funny. In addition to the impeccable pacing and excellent humor, the writing is also extraordinarily beautiful, with passages that you’ll want to underline. Yes, it’s hilarious, but there is also so much heart.

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PAPER TOWNS by John Green. Yes, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and LOOKING FOR ALASKA are both dominating the NYT list right now (as they should be–both wonderful books). But I have always found PAPER TOWNS particularly haunting, and there’s a particular passage near the end that I love so much it ranks up there with the opening line of Stegner’s CROSSING TO SAFETY as a beautifully written description of what it means to be human.

See the full list here!

Amazon Holiday Pick: Matched Trilogy Box Set

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Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog has posted its top holiday picks for Young Adult readers, which includes the Matched Trilogy Box Set!

Matched Trilogy Box Set Ally CondieMatched Trilogy Box Set: This is a series tailor-made for Hunger Games readers. Romance and action in a Big Brother society, and I’m not giving anything away to tell you that it starts with a teen girl, Cassia, who is shown her expected marriage match–but for a brief second another boy’s face appears on the screen.  Hmmm… The story builds from there, each book adding a new layer and new voices to the narrative.  Addictive reading.

The rest of the list consists of the John Green Box Set, Lauren Conrad Beauty, Not Exactly A Love Story, The Hobbit (Deluxe Collector’s Edition), and Star Wars: A Galatic Pop-up Adventure. You can see the reasons for each pick here.

Ally Condie Talks Matched Movie Fancasts

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Just Jared Jr. recently covered Reached in their book club, at which time they unleashed a great quote from Ally Condie that was previously published in Entertainment Weekly. It’s all about her favorite fancasts for the upcoming Matched movie!

Here’s her take on it all:

Nathan Fillion

“I’m 34, so I’m mostly thinking about whose dad Nathan Fillion could play. [Laughs] A lot of fans have been sending pictures of actors. I just saw Logan Lerman in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. A lot of fans have mentioned him, and I was kind of dying because he’s the cutest thing ever — he would be a great Ky. Also, Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries.”

We wouldn’t be opposed to the inclusion of Nathan Fillion, either!

If you want to ask Ally more questions about the books or her fancasts, submit them in the comments here as we’ll be interviewing her in two days!