Yiddish Makes No. 2 on Times List

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union reached the No. 2 spot on The New York Times Best Seller List for hardcover fiction.

The listing marks the highest any Chabon adult fiction novel has made it on the list. In fact, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is the only other one to have been ranked. It made No. 16 for one week in 2001.

Kavalier to ‘Come Back Together’

The producer behind the film adaptation of Kavalier & Clay has told Michael Chabon that the movie “will all come back together again,” the author said Tuesday.

During an online chat hosted by The Washington Post, Chabon said the producers had green lighted the movie last summer, with Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman set to star and Stephen Daldry set to direct.

“The production designer had taken his kids out of school in LA and was ready to move to London where the principal interiors were going to be shot,” Chabon said. “And then last fall it all fell apart. I’m not entirely sure why; I’m not privy to the inside information, but my sense is that the studio (Paramount) underwent one of those financial panics that studios are regularly prey to, and many plugs were pulled–including K&C’s.”

“Oh, well, that’s showbiz,” he added.

Nevertheless, Chabon said producer Scott Rudin “assures me that there is no reason to despair and that it will all come back together again.”

“I have no reason at all not to believe him,” he said.

During the chat, Chabon also hinted at what his next project might be.

“I would like to get a new novel going,” he said. “I would like it to be set in the present day and feel right now the urge to do something more mainstream than my recent work has been.”

He also said no new graphic novels starring the Escapist were lined up.

‘Pursuits’ Gains Co-Financier

The film adaptation of Ayelet Waldman’s “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” has gained a co-financier, Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday.

British-based Capitol Films will co-finance and take on worldwide sales duties for the Jennifer Lopez vehicle. Capitol headed to Cannes to find buyers for the picture.

Peter Naish, Capitol Films’ co-managing director, described Don Roos’ script as “the kind of feisty yet sexy role that could have been made for Jennifer.”