Constantin to adapt 'Schossgebete'

BERLIN -- Constantin Film, Germany's leading production and indie distribution company, has picked up the film adaptation rights to Charlotte Roche's latest novel "Schossgebete."The book, which focuses on sex within marriage, follows her controversial 2008 debut novel, "Wetlands," a portrayal of female sexuality, which sold two million copies. Released this summer, "Schossgebete" has sold 650,000 copies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It received generally good reviews, but was criticized by Germany's leading feminist, Alice Schwarzer, who said it presented a traditional, patriarchal view of sex.Oliver Berben will produce the film, with Constantin's head of film production Martin Moszkowicz, exec producing. No figures as to what Constantin paid for the rights were made available."Schossgebete" can have a dual meaning in German, referring to the womb and to a last-ditch prayer. Roche, who was born in the U.K. but moved to Germany when she was a child, was a well-known TV presenter before she became a novelist. She started as a VJ on music-video channel Viva in the mid-1990s, then went on to host late-night talkshows for Arte and ZDF. She won the prestigious Grimme Prize for television in 2004. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com