HBO Options Michael Gross’ Unreal Estate: Money, Ambition, and the Lust for Land in Los Angeles

October 28, 2011

By Word & Film

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While not on sale until November 1, Unreal Estate: Money, Ambition, and the Lust for Land in Los Angeles is already receiving Tinsletown love. Today, HBO announced it has optioned New York Times bestselling author Michael Gross’ (740 Park, Rogue’s Gallery) new book for a TV series and is in talks with Joel Silver of “The Matrix” fame to executive produce.

 

Unreal Estate traces the secret history of Los Angeles through its real estate. Focusing on sixteen homes in the best and most exclusive neighborhoods of Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, and Beverly Park, Gross shines an all-new light on a city we think we know, but really don’t. Flashing back to the creation of this fabled district, built from the dusty fields and rugged impassible mountains, Gross takes us through to La-La lands’ present-day mega-mansions that have come to symbolize the ultimate in trophy real estate.

The book features an incredible cast of characters from the oil and railroad pioneers who founded the city to the Hollywood stars and moguls who have and continue to call it home (making an appearance: Douglas Fairbanks, Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jayne Mansfield, Cher, Sylvester Stallone, Suge Knight, Ted Field, Marvin Davis, Howard Hughes, Conrad Hilton, and Ron Burkle just to name a few). With a roster like that, we can’t wait to see the roles HBO develops!

Tags: HBO, Los Angeles, Michael Gross, Real Estate