Frears Bets on Gambling Tale for Focus

Stephen Frears will direct “Lay the Favorite, Take the Dog,” an adaptation of an upcoming Beth Raymer memoir that is aiming for a June production start.

Pic’s being made in partnership between Random House Films and Focus Features.

Random House Films prexy Peter Gethers will oversee along with Focus Features prexy John Lyons. 

The book, which will be published June, 2010, is being adapted by D.V. DeVincentis, who previously co-wrote the Frears-directed “High Fidelity,” an adaptation of the Nick Hornby book.

Book tells the story of a young woman’s journey into the world of sports gambling, where she started as a cocktail waitress but soon got caught up in a gambling way of life that led her to New York and the Caribbean. She finally began questioning her life when she fell in love. The movie is viewed as a mix between Frears-directed films “High Fidelity” and “The Grifters.”

Frears is repped by ICM.