Graphic novels along with comic books are the favorite go-to-sources for movies in Hollywood these days. There is serious dough to be made, two examples: comic-turned-film “The Dark Knight” has a domestic gross nearing $500 million and “300″ the movie based on a graphic novel has raked in more than $450 million worldwide since 2006.

So it is no surprise that Warner Bros. and 20^th Century Fox are locked in a legal battle over the rights to the classic graphic novel “Watchmen,” and the film based on it, which is set for release next March.

William Shakespeare 1564-1616 – thought to have written “Julius Caesar” in 1599.

Meanwhile, other studios and production companies continue to snatch up the illustrated stories.  Mandalay Pictures just made a deal for the rights to the Oni Press graphic novel “Julius,” which is described as a contemporary urban crime drama based on William Shakespeare’s play, ”Julius Caesar.”

F.Gary Gray will direct.  His credits include, “The Italian Job” and “The Negotiator.”

Oni Press has at least six other projects based on its publications in various stages of Hollywood development.

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The book sold more than three million copies in the U.S. and worldwide, now two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank has bought movie rights to “French Women Don’t Get Fat.”  

In the snappy diet book, former champagne executive Mireille Guiliano shares her philosophy on how French women manage to drink wine and eat calorie-rich foods and still stay slim.

Swank reportedly will turn the nonfiction book into a romantic comedy about the exploits of a champagne company manager. Swank may star in the film.

Swank’s 2S Films will produce “French Women Don’t Get Fat” through Alcon Entertainment. The actress is developing a number of projects through her production company.

In 1999, Swank won an Academy Award for best supporting actress for playing a transgender teen who is attacked and murdered in the independent film, “Boys Don’t Cry.”

Also, she won the best actress Oscar in 2005 for the role of a female boxer in the movie, ”Million Dollar Baby.”

More detail at Variety.com

Tyler Perry          Tobey Maguire

A number of film deals announced this week. Here are some that caught my attention.

Tyler Perry signs a new three-year first-look deal with Lionsgate for at least three more films. Lionsgate has distributed five Perry films starting with “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” in 2005.

The prolific filmmaker has “The Family That Preys,” coming out in September.

According to Lionsgate, Perry films have grossed nearly $250 million at the box office and sold more than 25 million units on DVD.

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A sequel to the musical “Hairspray” is headed to the Big Screen. New Line Cinema has made a deal with “Hairspray” creator John Waters to write the treatment with plans for a mid-July 2010 film release.

The studio hopes to bring back the original cast, that includes John Travolta, Zac Efron, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Allison Janney.

The first “Hairspray” movie grossed more than $200 million worldwide.

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Actor Tobey Maguire is about to take on a different kind of hero. Maguire, famous for playing the movie version of the web-slinging comic book character “Spider-Man,” has signed on for Universal’s “The Crusaders.”

Maguire will portray Jack Greenberg, a young lawyer fresh out of law school who got involved in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case. Greenberg joined the NAACP Legal Defense Fund headed at the time by future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Greenberg and Marshall were on the legal team that won the historic 1954 Supreme Court case that ruled racial segregation illegal in American schools and other public facilities. The case is called Brown vs. the Board of Education. The decision inspired civil rights struggles across the country and around the world.

More on these deals at www.variety.com