DreamWorks nabs rights to novel "The Help"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - DreamWorks Studios has acquired film rights to Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel "The Help."

A book-club favorite published by Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam last year, "The Help" explores the complicated relationships between the matrons of the South in 1962 and the maids and housekeepers who take care of their kids and homes.

The book was adapted for the big screen by actor Tate Taylor, a childhood friend of Stockett's in Jackson, Miss. He also will direct the film.