Why The I Am Number Four Franchise Was Canceled
BY JOE ROBERTS
Adapting young adult fiction has been a reliable approach for Hollywood, especially in a post-“Twilight” world. That stupid lightning in a bottle phenomenon gave rise to multiple imitators, whether it was books or adaptations of those books — some of which were more successful than others. 2011’s “I Am Number Four” was one of the less successful examples.
Directed by D.J. Caruso (“Disturbia,” “Eagle Eye”), the science-fiction action film was based on the 2010 novel of the same name. The book itself was written by Pittacus Lore (a collective pseudonym for authors James Frey and Jobie Hughes) and represented the inaugural Lorien Legacies novel in what is a seven-novel series that has also produced multiple spin-off and sequel series. Even before the book eventually became a hit, though, a bidding war had erupted for the film rights. In June 2009, J. J. Abrams faced off against Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay for a shot at adapting the property, with the latter winning out in the end. HarperCollins won the book rights soon after, and “l Am Number Four” spent seven weeks at number one on the children’s New York Times bestseller list.