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ABC will pilot Curtis Sittenfeld's novel 'Eligible,' Deadline reports

Posted at 2:20 PM, Sep 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-08 14:31:11-04

Curtis Sittenfeld's novel "Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride & Prejudice" will soon be adapted for television, Deadline reports. ABC, WCPO - 9 On Your Side's affiliate, has agreed to pilot the show.

The minds behind "Pretty Little Liars," "Brothers & Sisters" and CW's "Beauty & the Beast" are working on the pilot, which will be filmed at Warner Brothers Studios, Deadline's report said.

READ MORE: Would Jane Austen's Bennet clan eat Skyline? New novel from Curtis Sittenfeld might have the answer

Sherri Cooper Landsman, Jennifer Levin and I. Marlene King will produce the show, Deadline said. Cooper Landsman and Levin previously worked on "Brothers & Sisters" and "Beauty & the Beast;" King was behind ABC Family/Freeform's adaptation of "Pretty Little Liars."

“Eligible” is a retelling of Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice” set in modern-day Cincinnati. In the book, Liz and Jane Bennet return to their childhood home in Cincinnati from New York after their father falls ill. Their three younger sisters are obsessing over CrossFit or mysteriously disappearing on Tuesday nights. Their mother is keen to marry off her eldest daughter, Jane, as she approaches 40. The most likely candidate she sees is Chip Bingley, a doctor who appeared on a “Bachelor”-esque reality show called “Eligible.” But it’s Chip’s friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, who...well, you know how it goes.

Cincinnati staples like Skyline, Boca and University Hospital make their cameos in the novel.

Walnut Hills native Sittenfeld is the sister of City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld.

WCPO freelance writer Grace Dobush contributed to this report.