Disney set to develop Julie Murphy’s upcoming YA novel DUMPLIN’ for the big screen!
Putting aside a slew of live-action remakes for just a moment, Disney has optioned the rights to an original novel! The studio has optioned the rights to Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’!
The novel centers on confident small town diva and self-proclaimed “fat girl” Willowdean Dickson (aka Dumplin’), who begins to doubt herself for the first time when a popular boy she likes actually reciprocates her feelings. To get back her stride, Willowdean enters herself into a local Texas beauty pageant to prove to herself that she’s just as good as the skinny pageant regulars she’s up against.
Author Julie Murphy reacted to the big news spectacularly on Twitter:
I guess now would be a good time to tell you that Disney has optioned the film rights to DUMPLIN'! (CUE FREAK OUT) https://t.co/zTt0JGqXLV
— Julie Murphy (@andimJULIE) July 21, 2015
I wish I could go back in time and tell a fat 16yo Julie about this. She would call bullshit. But still!
— Julie Murphy (@andimJULIE) July 21, 2015
Official Synopsis:
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.
With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.
Dumplin’, the novel, is due out on September 15, 2015.
Murphy is also the author of Side Effects May Vary, the story of a teen who gets wild revenge on all of her enemies when diagnosed with terminal cancer, only to slip into an unexpected remission and be faced with the consequences.
