Modern LoveSadly, David Bowie's classic 1983 song 'Modern Love' is not getting the film treatment; instead Columbia has inked a deal with the New York Times for potentially developing a film based on the paper's Sunday Styles "Modern Love" column.

According to Variety, the film version of the column -- a story revolving around sex, love and romance written by a different author each week -- follows the recent HBO pilot written by Jenny Bicks ('Sex and the City') with Alan Poul ('Six Feet Under'). The show would follow a fictional male editor going through the perils and pitfalls of dating post-divorce, while the film deal will develop movies based on real-life stories behind the paper's columns. Modern LoveSadly, David Bowie's classic 1983 song 'Modern Love' is not getting the film treatment; instead Columbia has inked a deal with the New York Times for potentially developing a film based on the paper's Sunday Styles "Modern Love" column.

According to Variety, the film version of the column -- a story revolving around sex, love and romance written by a different author each week -- follows the recent HBO pilot written by Jenny Bicks ('Sex and the City') with Alan Poul ('Six Feet Under'). The show would follow a fictional male editor going through the perils and pitfalls of dating post-divorce, while the film deal will develop movies based on real-life stories behind the paper's columns.

The deal is the latest in a string of collaborations between movie studios and the New York Times since the paper signed with talent agency ICM. The Times has made over 20 option deals for film or television projects, including stories on immigrant students planning their prom and a 12-year old wannabe food critic, though none have gone past development stage at this point.

We understand this isn't exactly the best time for any newspaper, even one as vaunted as they Gray Lady, but we're curious if studios can pull this one off. On the one hand, Columbia now has a huge archive of romance stories to draw upon. On the other, could this be more detrimental than beneficial for the paper should the films tank? What do you think?

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