Jones Makes a “Frenemy” in Imagine Entertainment

At some point, should we start considering graphic novels as treatments for screenplays rather than stand alone products?

Variety says that Imagine Entertainment and Universal pictures have picked up the rights to “Frenemy of the State,” a graphic novel miniseries written by actress Rashida Jones, Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. Jones will write the script with Will McCormack (Variety, being more interested in the actress writes something angle, didn’t mention DeFilippis and Weir–thanks to Collider for providing that info).

Jones has been seen in the sitcoms “The Office” and ”Parks and Recreation,” as well as on the big screen in “I Love You, Man.” McCormack is an actor whose name sounds familiar, but I can’t place. Variety says he’s been on TV in the USA series “In Plain Sight” and ABC’s “Brothers and Sisters.” The two also wrote the script “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” which is in development with Jones set to star.

“Frenemy” is about a “a young wealthy heiress who works undercover for the CIA.” Jones says she won’t star, as the character is made for a younger actress. She expounds.

“It’s intended for a girl much younger than me, about age 20, an interesting age for girls as they make that scary jump to adulthood,” she said. “She has lived a life of privilege, attended the best schools and learned every language, but her obsession with spying on exes gets her into trouble and she is recruited to be a spy in exchange for not going to prison. There is a comic element to it, this girl who is so conscious of social standing and wearing the right shoes, suddenly becoming responsible for these dangerous, life-threatening missions.”

Okay, it sounds a bit “Alias” with an upper-class version of “La Femme Nikita” thrown in. Actually, the real gold standard for this kind of spy story are the true life accounts of Aline, Countess of Romanones’s work as a spy during World War II–”The Spy Wore Red,” and “The Spy Went Dancing.” When it comes to spy stories, reality almost always is better than fiction.