Emmett/Furla will head 'Home'

Mar. 19, 1999 - Randall Emmett and George Furla of Emmett/Furla Films have optioned best-selling young adult novel "They Never Came Home" by Lois Duncan, the author of "I Know What You Did Last Summer."

In "They Never Came Home," two teenage boys vanish on a camping trip and a stranger claims that one owes him $2,000. The boy's sister volunteers to repay the money and searches for clues that he is alive.

Barbara Bersell and Janice Jacobsen, who brought the project to Emmett/Furla, will serve as co-producers on the film. Duncan was represented in the deal by Wendy Schmalz at Harold Ober Associates.

In addition, Miko Hughes, who starred opposite Bruce Willis in "Mercury Rising," has signed for the lead opposite Dan Haggerty in the Emmett-Furla produced "Return to Grizzly Mountain."

The project will be directed by Anthony Dalesandro, who served as a producer on the original "Grizzly." Yoram Pelman and Marc Schaberg for Tomorrow Films will executive produce and handle worldwide rights. Hughes is repped by Suzanne Bennett at Paul Kohner Inc.