A novel set in Erie is projected to become a major motion picture soon, and better yet, the author of this novel is coming to visit Gannon University.
Everett De Morier, author of “Thirty-three Cecils,” is scheduled to visit the campus Tuesday as a part of a speaker series hosted by English honors society Sigma Tau Delta.
De Morier is a Binghamton, New York, native, and his small town upbringing influenced elements of his 2015 novel.
He studied communications at State University of New York at Cortland and oddly enough has a mechanical engineering degree in his back pocket from DeVry University.
De Morier began his authorial career with nonfiction but gravitated toward novels as his career progressed.
Set in 1992, “Thirty-three Cecils” follows two very different men who met the same fate: they were murdered.
One of these men is in fact from Erie, connecting this novel to the city Gannon calls home.
“Thirty-three Cecils” will be produced in part by Kelly Fancher, whom De Morier said has been essential to having the film produced in his hometown of Binghamton.
Although Erie won’t actually be the setting where the movie will be filmed, it will still remain the setting of the story. It will just be filmed exclusively in Binghamton.
The movie has a $2.7 million to $7.5 million budget.
De Morier spoke to the success of his novel, saying that “Thirty-three Cecils” won the top fiction prize at The London Book Festival and was named book-of-the-year by Heroic Magazine.
“During that first year, it attracted the attention of some film people who read the novel and optioned the film rights,” De Morier said.
The filming for “Thirty-three Cecils” is set to begin sometime this spring, and De Morier has quite the team behind him.
De Morier wrote the screenplay along with a producer for the movie, Brian Esquivel.
Esquivel eventually helped De Morier find producer Orian Williams to work on the project. Together, Esquivel and Williams compiled a cast list and a directorial team.
Part of this cast was announced Tuesday.
Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman will have a role in the film adaptation of the novel, but his role has yet to be announced.
De Morier said there is hope for more famous names to be added to the credits.
“There are some A-list actors involved — one of which read the script 14 times,” De Morier said. “He said he had never read anything like it.”
From all that has been revealed through the novel and about the film so far, De Morier’s visit to Gannon will further establish the bond of his book and the city of Erie.
De Morier will begin his tour of Gannon Tuesday in a Literature and Film class taught by English professor Douglas King, Ph. D.
From 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., De Morier and Sigma Tau Delta will be hosting a writing workshop in Room 3225 of the Palumbo Academic Center. The workshop is open to all students interested in discussing and learning more about writing and publication.
The main event will end De Morier’s visit at Gannon and will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Palumbo’s third-floor atrium.

ALI SMITH

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