Schwartz in line for pilot based on book series

The creator of "The O.C." may be switching coasts for his next TV project.

Josh Schwartz, whose FOX show begins its fourth season later this year, is in negotiations to write and executive produce a pilot based on the "Gossip Girl" series of teen novels for The CW. Fellow "O.C." exec producer would team with Schwartz on the script, which has a put pilot commitment (i.e., either a pilot gets made or the network forks over some cash) at the new network.

"The books are a soap opera, and TV makes a lot of sense," Leslie Morgenstein of "Gossip Girl" publisher Alloy Entertainment tells The Hollywood Reporter. "When we made the list of writers who would be the best to adapt 'Gossip Girl' for television, Josh was at the top of the list."

The "Gossip Girl" series, created by Cecily von Ziegesar, centers on a group of privileged New York City girls who attend a posh private school. The anonymous narrator chronicles it all on her Gossip Girl Web site.

The books -- there are nine in the series thus far -- have been frequent entrants on the New York Times best-seller list. A couple years back, "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino was tapped to write a feature-film script based on the novels, with Lindsay Lohan starring, but the deal fell through.

Warner Bros. TV will produce the pilot. Morgenstein and Ally's Bob Levy will serve as exec producers with Schwartz and Savage.