Vigorous Pictures has optioned the film rights to espionage thriller The Last Spymaster by Gayle Lynds (St. Martin's, $6.99, 9780312988777/031298877X) and Jonathan Green's nonfiction work, Murder in the High Himalaya: Loyalty, Tragedy and Escape From Tibet (PublicAffairs, $26.95, 9781586487140/1586487140, scheduled to be published in June 2010). Vigorous, recently formed by Jon Furay, formerly an indie producer and book scout, and James LaVigne, the former v-p of production at Michael Douglas' Furthur Films, told Variety that it has "raised independent financing to launch a company that will focus on transferring true stories to films."
"We're fortunate to have raised development money in tough economic times," Furay said.