Hollywood Just Insane Enough to Buy ‘Crazy Love’

The documentary Crazy Love — the tabloid story of how crazy-man Burt Pugach wooed Linda Riss, then splashed her face with acid in 1959, only to win her back and live happily ever after — isn’t your standard Hollywood romance. But master flack—and emerging doc powerhouse — Dan Klores says he’s sold his screenplay adaptation to the dream factory.

“The same thing happened with my documentary Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story,” says Klores. “I always knew it could be a feature, and Scott Rudin and Sony bought the rights.” Klores won’t reveal details since the deal has not been announced (or planted) properly, although he emphasizes the good working relationship he has with Rudin. Klores is writing the script while finishing what he says will be his last documentary, Black Magic, a civil-rights-era basketball tale.

Neither of Klores’s previous docs seems like a natural studio flick (gay boxer, acid-hurling romantic), but Klores is looking on the bright side, even anticipating a new career tag: documentarian turned feature filmmaker. He likes it better than his current one. “It sort of irks me actually, and it happens mostly in New York, when they call me publicist turned filmmaker,” says the publicist turned filmmaker. “How many films do I have to make to get rid of that label?” —Steve Ramos

Related: David Edelstein’s Review of Crazy Love [NYM]