Say what you will about the ultra-hip dialogue that no one in your high school class ever could have managed, but Diablo Cody really does get teenage girls. The relationship between Juno and her BFF Leah was the first sign, but in last weekend's poor, underseen Jennifer's Body, Cody really honed in on the toxic frenemy relationship that, like it or not, was part of everyone's high school experience.
Which is just one reason why I am very, very excited about this-- THR has announced that Universal has picked Cody to adapt the Sweet Valley High book series into a movie. If you're not female and born in the 70s and 80s, you may need to be reminded that the Sweet Valley books were about California twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, and essentially served as introductory soap operas for girls whose parents were just relieved that they were reading. There's back-stabbing and romance and trickery and schemes galore, though PG-13 rated (or PG in the case of the Sweet Valley Twins series, which is where my addiction really kicked in).
While the original series most definitely trended toward sappy and sentimental rather than tart and realistic, I can only assume that Cody will be putting her own modern twist on the material-- I mean, otherwise it'll basically be the live-action Baby-Sitter's Club movie from the mid-90s. I can't imagine a better screenwriter to handle the material, and giddily look forward to wrangling my high school friends together to experience a serious Sweet Valley flashback. Who's with me?
UPDATE: Cody is already talking about the project with fans on her Twitter feed. She promises: "Sharp comedy/satire, plenty of "sincere" SVH moments too. No werewolves. Plenty of Todd." I'm still hoping for a shout-out to the "Curse of the Ruby Necklace" Super Special where they get cast as extras in a movie and see ghosts.
